The Fifth Marauder
by Ocean of Dreams
Summary: AU The golden Marauder era my way. LJ and the marauders experience some difficulties. There's another best friend in their group...just how will she affect the drama in the Marauder's already dramatic lives? LJ SBoC RLOC Starts from first year. Given up.
1. Friends and Houses

James followed his parents onto the Platform. It was September first, the first day of school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He pushed his cart towards the Hogwarts Express, steam rolling out of the top.

"HURRY JAMES! YOU'RE GOING TO MISS THE TRAIN!" his mother cried.

James ran onto the train, escaping his parents, dragging his trunk behind him.

And crashed into another boy. _Oh Brilliant James. _He picked himself up, and helped the other boy stand.

"Sorry, didn't see you. I'm James Potter by the way. "

"S'alright. Sirius Black." The train jerked suddenly. "Wanna find a compartment?"

"Yeah, before they all get taken up."

Sirius grinned. "Let's go already!"

Unfortunately for them, the train was full to bursting, and almost every compartment was full. They reached the last compartment, which had a single girl in it, looking out the window.

"Come ON SIRIUS! Let's go in already!"

"Fine…" Sirius sighed and reluctantly went in. He didn't really know what to do about girls, if they were like his mother or not.

James said uncertainly, "Um, sorry, but as there are no other seats…can we sit with you?"

The girl turned, slightly surprised. "Oh, yeah sure." Sirius and James lugged their trunks in and hefted them onto the top.

"I'm James Potter."

"I'm Sirius Black."

She watched them. "Kristen Chang."

James broke the silence.

"So what did you guys do over the summer?"

Kristen shrugged. "Nothing really, visited my relatives…"

Sirius looked away. "Nothing."

James was shocked. "You did nothing!?"

Sirius was spared from answering when a sandy-haired boy slid the door open. He was followed by a mouse-like shy boy.

"Erm, sorry if we interrupted something, but there aren't any more compartments open. Mind if we join you?"

"No, not at all," James said quickly. _After all, it's best if we make friends now._

"I'm Remus by the way, Remus Lupin. My mate here is Peter Pettigrew."

Remus and Peter pushed their trunks onto the ledge, and sat down.

"So…what house do you reckon you're going to be sorted into?" Remus asked casually.

"Gryffindor, my whole family's been in it." James said, trying to carry on the conversation.

"I think I'm going to be in Hufflepuff," murmured Peter, craning his neck looking for the witch with the candy.  
"Eh, maybe Ravenclaw or Gryffindor..." Remus said, watching Peter.

"Probably Gryffindor, since most of my family has been in it." Kristen said, and looked out the window.

Sirius was quiet.

"Sirius, what about you?" James asked, trying to figure out why he was so silent.

"S-Slytherin," he mumbled his eyes on the ground.

"What?!" James said loudly, surprised. "But Sirius, most of Slytherin are evil!"

"Yeah I know. But my family _is_ evil, I'm a Black remember?"

"Um Sirius, if you don't want to be in Slytherin, you won't be sorted into it; they'll see you aren't suited for the house," Kristen said, trying to make him feel better.

"Yeah…I guess..." Sirius said in reply.

"Well…what do you think of Quidditch?" Remus asked, tactfully changing the subject.

Kristen shot a grateful look at him.

"I'd want to be Beater," Sirius said, quickly forgetting the depressing House business.

"I think Seeker is the most exciting," James argued.

"I would try out for Chaser, but we have to wait another year any ways right?" Kristen said.

"Oh right…" they exchanged disappointed looks.

Soon it became dark, and they changed into their black Hogwarts robes. As they were talking about the classes, the train ground to a stop. Jumping off the train, they all headed towards where Hagrid was shouting, "Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere!"

They made their way to the boats, James, Sirius and Kristen in one, Remus and Peter in another. The boats glided over the still lake, and the earlier ones reached the castle. As the last boats hit the shore, a strict looking Professor came out and led them to the Great Hall.

"I am Professor McGonagall. You are about to be sorted into your houses. There are four houses, each for a founder; Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. Once you are sorted into your house, they will become like your family. You will gain points…And any rule-breaking will lose points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup; a great honor." With that, she led the first years into the Great Hall to be sorted.

"Black, Sirius!" Sirius stumbled up to the stool and placed the Sorting Hat onto his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

* * *

_Another Black hm? This should be easy. I shall place you in Slytherin, like all your ancestors. __**NO! WAIT! I don't want to be in Slytherin! **__You are different…I shall grant your request…_Better be…"GRYFFINDOR!!" 

Cheering rose from the third table. Bellatrix and Narcissa looked shocked and angry. Sirius took off the Hat, and made his way to the Gryffindors.

'

"Chang, Kristen!" She walked up to the Hat, and dropped it onto her head. Immediately, "GRYFFINDOR!" Was cried out. The Gryffindor table again erupted in cheers.

"Lupin, Remus!" "GRYFFINDOR!!"

"Malfoy, Lucius!" "SLYTHERIN!"  
"Pettigrew, Peter!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Nelson, Riley!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Avery, Thomas!" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Smith, Alice!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Potter, James!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Davies, Jeffrey!" "RAVENCLAW!"

"Gilmore, Aly!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Snape, Severus!" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Wood, Alexander!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bones, Nicole!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Nott, William!" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Longbottom, Frank!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Evans, Lily!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Prewett Molly!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

Many more were called up. When the last name was called, the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll, took the Hat and stool aside, and headed towards her seat. _Ching ching ching! _ The Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, stood up.

"Before we sink our teeth into this delicious feast, I would like to say a few words. Our caretaker, Argus Filch, has a list of forbidden items in his office. They include Fanged Frisbees, Dungbombs, and a horde of other items. The Forbidden Forest is, indeed, forbidden. I think that is all. Let the Feast, begin!"

Instantly, the golden platters filled and conversations began. Everyone grabbed what they wanted to eat, ad devoured it ravenously.

"So, Remus, Sirius, Kristen, Peter, what do you make of Dumbledore? A real nut case hm?"

They murmured agreement and finished eating. The dishes were changed into desserts, and were finished quickly. Dumbledore stood up.

"Now that we have devoured another magnificent feast, I'm sure you are all feeling rather sleepy. Schedules will be handed out tomorrow. Prefects! Lead the first years to your common rooms."

With that, the Great Hal emptied out. The prefect, Barty Crouch, led them up the staircases and in front of a portrait of a chunky lady in a pink dress.

"Password?"

Barty turned to them. "The password this week is Fairy dust."

The Portrait swung open. "Boys in the left, girls on the right. You will find all of your belongings have been brought up for you."

The group of five split, the boys on the left ad Kristen departed through the right. She found that she was roomed with Riley Nelson, Aly Gilmore, and Lily Evans. They seemed nice, so she unpacked her stuff and fell asleep, not knowing the next seven years were the best of her life.

**Please review, then i will know whether or not to continue with the story or not! **


	2. The First Prank

**THANK YOU ALL MY REVIEWERS! Though i revised the story a bit, and had to delete it.  
**

**This is probably the last update till I get back to the US, I'll try and update my other story once more too. The next chapter[Sorry it skips several weeks, I don't think the first-fourth years are important.**

**And by the way, Molly [future Weasley, is Molly Prewett. **

* * *

**  
**Kristen woke up early, 6:30. _If only I could wake up like this when I wanted to…_ She grabbed her robes and went into the bathroom to shower. Sliding into her robes, she walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Not many seats were filled, but Professor McGonagall gave Kristen her schedule quickly. _Hm….History of Magic first, then Potions, Transfiguration, then Charms, and lastly Defense against the Dark Arts._ Kristen filled her plate, and started eating. Before long, Remus led James, Sirius and Peter into the Hall.

"Why'd you wake us up so _early_ Remus?!" Sirius mumbled.

Remus rolled his eyes. "So we can eat?"

"Ah right."

It was their second week into the year, and Hogwarts was beginning to become their second home. Or for others, it was their first. The lessons were all ok, Professors alright. Potions was ok, Charms slightly interesting, History of Magic stupid, and Transfiguration was probably the most interesting. Of course, it was the lesson which James and Sirius were most active in, contributing to the "interesting" part.

"MR. POTTER!! CHANGE HIS HAIR COLOR BACK AT ONCE!" Professor McGonagall screamed her voice hoarse.

"I WILL AFTER HE APOLOGIZES FOR CALLIN ME A BLOOD TRAITOR!"

"MR. SNAPE!!! IF YOU WANT YOUR HAIR BACK TO NORMAL APOLOGIZE at ONCE!"

Kristen sighed quietly, and muttered the counter-curse. Snape's hair returned to its normal black, and the Professor sighed.

"Thank you my dear. Mr. Potter, detention, my office, 7:00, Saturday. Severus, ten points off Slytherin for foul language."

The bell rang, and James, Sirius, Remus and Kristen went out the door, Peter trailing.

"Bloody awesome James! Where'd you find the spell?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"In this book my uncle gave me."

"Oh haha."

"Dammit, we have History of Magic next." Remus grumbled.

James and Sirius started whispering to each other, and drew ahead.

Kristen exchanged a glance with Remus.

"What do you think their talking about?"

"I don't know…"

"Tell me!"

"No!"

Remus ran ahead and out of sight.

_Guys…_

Kristen caught up with James and Sirius.

"What are you guys talking about?"

They exchanged looks.

Sirius turned to Kristen. "We are, ah, planning."

"For…?"

"A...prank?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."

* * *

_See this is how she's different from other girls…_Sirius thought. 

"We want to make our seven years seven years Hogwarts will never forget. The prank is tomorrow. We asked a teacher how to duplicate things, and we have a bottle of hair dye. Hot pink hair dye. We also have found out the Slytherin common room and password. Are you in?"

She grinned appreciatively. "Of course."

* * *

In Professor Binn's classroom, next to the James and Sirius, Remus was fuming. 

"What do you mean, Kristen is helping?!"

Sirius sighed. James rubbed his temples.

"We needed another person after Peter said he couldn't do it. She found out about it, and we let her. Besides, she can do the girls, and we can dye the boys' hair."

"Fine."

The bell rang. **A/N, yes I know that was a fast class, but let's assume class had started for awhile. **

Sirius reached Kristen, and asked, "Are you up for it tonight?"

"Yeah. Those Slytherins have it coming." **  
**

It was a free period then, and the boys went up into their dorm, beckoning for Kristen to follow.

Sirius pulled out the hair dye bottles, and James took out a cloak.

"So, what's the plan?" Kristen asked, watching them.

Suddenly, James disappeared.

"James?" Sirius asked the air where James had been. "Mate?"

James reappeared, grinning broadly.

"We're going to go under this, us guys dyeing the boy Slytherins' hair, and Kristen will do the girls'."

The free period ended, and the rest of the day passed quickly. Before long, Kristen found herself in their dorm, sitting on James' bed.

"Ok, this bag is for Kristen, and this one for us. We're doing all Slytherins. Let's go already! It's going to take awhile."

Under the cloak, they crept out and into the corridors, silently moving closer and closer to the crime scene.

Kristen clutched her bag, and Sirius hissed, "Stop! We're here. The password is 'Pureblood.'"

The wall slid open, and the boys followed the left passageway to the boy dormitories, and Kristen slipped into the girl dormitories. Thankfully, there weren't many girls.

She sprayed, and sprayed, and sprayed the hair dye. Finally, there were only five girls left. Spray, spray and spray again.

Kristen slipped out the door, and went into the where James, Remus and Sirius were working their magic. **[A/N, not literally though p** They were finishing up on Severus, and decided to change his robe color to hot pink too.

"It matches his new hair!"

_Whatever Sirius. _

It was close to 11:00, so they gathered up all the cans and stuffed them into their bag.

Flinging the cloak around them, James led the way back to safe territory.

Kristen yawned. "'Night," and veered off into the girl's dorms.

Remus, Sirius and James crashed into their room, and flopped onto their beds.

"I would love to see McGonagall's face tomorrow. And old Sluggy's when he finds out his House has been hit." Sirius laughed into his pillow.

Remus chuckled, and said goodnight.

James promptly fell asleep right after that.

_Kristen really is different, I bet if we told someone like Riley or Lily they would have told McGonagall at once. Ah, Kristen is pretty as well… but no. Not into girls right now...maybe in a few years…._

"'Night." He said aloud, and fell back against his pillow and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Howling for more Rowling: James is Seeker, the first movie McGonagall says "Your father would be proud, he was an excellent seeker himself." Then Harry, Ron and Hermione go to the trophy room, and see his father's trophy that says Seeker. In the fifth book, in Snape's memory, James is playing with the Snitch. **

**EragonPeep: Haha, yeah you did review! But also review on A New Hope too please!**

** Please...R&R!!!!  
**


	3. Difficulties

Thanks for my one reviewer!

Oh yeah, in case I forget, I DON'T OWN ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE.

* * *

The Great Hall was filling up; though the five of them were disappointed when no Slytherins showed. 

"Damn. Do you think that they realized it, or are sleeping late?" James asked.

"They can't sleep _this_ late…" Peter said, frowning.

"No, even Slytherins aren't this lazy," Sirius added, frown lines appearing on his forehead.

Just then, Professor Slughorn ran into the Hall, and blustered weakly.

"What is it Horace?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.

"H-H-House…p-pink…robes…p-prank…"

"Where is your House incidentally?"

Slughorn flushed slightly and said, "Outside the Hall Minerva."

Striding in between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables, Professor McGonagall opened the door and went to investigate. Minutes later, she re-appeared with an angry look on her face.

"WHO HAS DONE THIS DESPICABLE THING?! IF THE CULPRIT DOES NOT STEP FORWARD IMMEDIANTLY---" The Transfiguration professor was cut off as James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus rolled around as their laughter filled the Great Hall. Kristen tried not to laugh, but it was all too much; she burst into giggles as well.

"POTTER, BLACK, LUPIN, PETTIGREW! MS. CHANG! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS! COME TO MY OFFICE IMMEDIATLY!"

Remus, Peter and Kristen stopped laughing though they both had a mirthful look in their eyes. James and Sirius couldn't control themselves at all, and lost it again as Professor Slughorn led his silent, sullen House into the Great Hall.

The other three houses roared with laughter as the Slytherins scowled and shot hate-filled looks at the five, two of which were still laughing.

Peter led the way to Professor McGonagall's office slowly, still amused. Sirius and James trailed, still smirking; they didn't care how many detentions they got.

They entered the spacious room quickly, and took their seats.

Professor McGonagall glared at then from behind her spectacles.

"Well? What is the meaning of this?"

No one answered.

Professor McGonagall sighed and said, "You are all very talented, and I do not want your talents to be wasted in these…acts. Detention my office tonight. You are dismissed."

"Well that was pleasant," Kristen said, faintly amused at James and Sirius' antics.

"HA! I told you I'd beat you in detentions again!" James teased.

"Psh. You have TWO detentions, I have FOUR."

"Yeah? From who?"

"Flitwick, McGonagall, Slughorn and Sprout."

"Well…"

Kristen stopped listening and turned to Remus.

"For some reason they _want_ to have a load of detentions…"

Remus shrugged, like he'd already given up hope. "They're James and Sirius, what do you expect?"

"Mm, true that."

* * *

At breakfast, Lily was angry. And anyone who knew her, you did not want to get her angry. 

"Poor Sev, he must've been so humiliated…stupid James, he knew that would…" she muttered, while casting worried looks at Snape.

"Isn't there any way to get it off?" Riley asked, trying to comfort her.

Aly piped up, "If that were the case, that hair dye and revolting robes would already be back to normal!"

Riley sighed. "Well…let's look on the bright side. Hair dye is drying, so it'll strip Snape's hair of all the oil!"

A peal of carefree laughter met this remark; James and Co. had just walked back in.

Narrowing her eyes, Lily stood up.

"James! Why did you do that! Now all the Sly--"

"Lily, why are you so worried? It was just a joke for Pete's sake."

"James—"

Sensing a fight beginning, Kristen caught Remus' eye and dragged Sirius out white Remus pulled Peter out quickly.

"James and Lily's fights are legendary; did you really want to get stuck in the crossfire?" Kristen asked Sirius, an odd look on her face.

"Eh…no. You're right, so where to now?"

Remus spoke up, "Our next class… Anyways, its only October and I have a detention!"

Peter shrugged. "You agreed to do the prank. I didn't, I was just laughing. But oh well."

"Whatever. We better hurry and get our books." Remus answered slightly annoyed.

**--Later that night, in the common room—**

"Ahh! Dammit! My arm feels like it's about to fall off!!" Sirius complained.

"It's the same for all of us, and may I remind you, it was YOUR idea that got us into trouble in the first place!" Kristen snapped, unusually pissed.

"Well you agreed to it, it's not my fault!"

Kristen started to retort but thought better of it, instead walked into the girl's dormitories without a goodnight.

"Why is she so damn complicated?" Sirius moaned to no one in particular, already regretting the argument.

James sighed. "She can get mad if you feel sorry for yourself, she's always been like that. It's only October, I thought you would've known by now."

"I don't talk to her a lot; I hang with you guys more."

"Essentially, you also hang out with her, she's part of _us_," Remus added.

"I guess…"

"Sirius, mate, why are you always doing that, getting her angry? It's like you guys have a Hate/Friend relationship, it's so…challenging. I'm surprised neither of you have gone to the nut house already," James said with a what-am-I-going-to-do look.

"I don't know! She's like me, pureblood, rich, proud, and, fine, I'll admit it, she's good-looking, but her family is the opposite of mine! You're guys' families are Light, mine is Dark. My family hates me."

James sighed again. "You two are more alike then you think."

Sirius was taken aback. "How so?"

"Figure it out yourself, talk to her."

"Like hell I will! She's so…"

"So what, exactly Sirius?" Remus burst out. "What is she? You haven't talked to her, gotten to know her, really tried to be her friend! Try doing those things, and _then_ talk to me about her having problems." After this outburst, Remus stormed out of the common room and into their dormitory. After casting a look around at the remaining two, Peter scurried up as well.

"James?" Sirius finally asked.

"What Sirius?"

"It's not as if I hate Kristen. I…well she's quite smart, and is really nice, and funny, and gorgeous, but…"

"But what?"

"I…I don't know about her. I've never had any luck talking with her, it's so…awkward. I don't know what to talk about! And…she…I don't know. It's just not as easy for me to talk to her as with you guys."

"Yeah, I know, like me and Lily really. But Kristen…Kristen is closer with us than anybody else in the school; she doesn't have a girl best friend or something. It's only us. And, well, she doesn't really have anyone to turn to with all this you know."

Sirius was silent. "Well…I think I'm going to bed now. Thanks James."

"Yeah, no problem," James said, frustrated that his best friends were at odds with each other.

Sirius soon disappeared up the staircase, and something moved near the bottom of it.

From the shadows emerged Kristen.

James raised his eyes to hers. "So you heard everything?"

"Yeah, about everything. Thanks James, really. Sirius…I don't get him. He's just like trying to figure out a puzzle in the dark, impossible."

"Well he will try and talk to you soon…"

"Yeah, I know that. And…"

"And what?"

"I anticipate it?"

"Fair enough. Now let's go, its pretty late."

"M'kay."

They went up the staircase together and parted when James left for the boy's dormitory.

Sinking down on her bed, Kristen lay awake, thinking. _I know Sirius isn't a bad person, he just makes me angry so much. And I don't like that; it makes me feel awful, even though I don't know why. I want to get closer to him, but I don't think he's that type of guy. But oh God, he is gorgeous…And yet with my situation right now, I don't think it's a good idea trying to make him like me; that'll destroy every possible hope for a friendship. You know what, screw that. I'm going to sleep. _

**Yup, so another chapter done! Kinda short, sorry, but right now there aren't a lot of important things…so far. And I know Lily and her friends haven't made any major appearances, so I'll try and fix that too.**

**Review Response:**

**The Littlest Weasel: Oh...Oh well, I'll just make him Seeker. Thanks!! **

**TO MY FEW READERS, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**


	4. Crap

**Thanks to all my reviewers!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

* * *

Kristen woke up early again. _What is with me…oh yeah, headache causer supreme, Sirius Black. God, I don't think it's healthy to wake up this early…and have a thumping headache. I just don't know what to do with him. Ugh…when he tries to talk to me I'd better listen._ She got out of the bed, took her robes, went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. _I hate homework…What haven't I done yet… the essay for Binn's…well that's due next week. I think that's it. Today we have what, Herbology…Potions…Transfiguration and Charms. Herbology...Possibly the worst to have in the morning, even though it's only six. Argh. _

The hot shower woke her up and she dried her hair with a towel. _I can't wait till I learn the spell for getting yourself dry…_ She pulled on her robes.

Kristen stumbled through the room and sat on her bed, thinking. _What should I do now? There is…nothing to do in the morning…Where is everyone? OH I know! I should…wake them up…hehe. _She descended the stairs and stopped in front of the door James had went into the night before. _I think it's this door…_ Kristen slipped inside. In the room, James slept closest to the doorway, Sirius on his right, then Remus, and then Peter. _Yes. Now…_ She took a pitcher that was on the nightstand, still filled with water. _This will do…_ Kristen stepped back and poured the whole lot on James.

"Holy crap! KRISTEN!" He was soaked in icy water, his indignant eyes trained on her.

"Shh, James! I'm trying to finish everyone!"

"Holy…then I'll go take a shower and change then."

"Mhm. But first…wait till I finish them."

"Fine. Oh…well…I'll help you."

"Thanks."

She refilled the pitcher in the bathroom and James grabbed the one on Remus' nightstand.

"I call Sirius." Kristen whispered to James.

"Aw…Fine, I'll do Remus and Peter then, you'll have done two by then!"

"Kay."

Sneaking up to Sirius' bedside, she swept her eyes across his face. _He actually is pretty good-looking…and I know a bunch of air-heads who like him already. Though I could never like him, he's so…rawr. _

Kristen advanced on Sirius' bed. He mumbled, "Come to papa meester taco…come here…"

She rolled her eyes. _Of course, only Sirius Black could dream about food even in his sleep._

With one swift movement, she emptied the contents of the water jug onto the afore mentioned Black. He jumped up and swore loudly.

"KRISTEN! WHAT-"

"Shh! Shut up Sirius!" James hissed, intent on dousing Remus.

"What?! Oh, James, your soaked as well. Never mind then."

Kristen rolled her eyes yet again. "Of course he is. Did you think I would only soak James and no one else?"

"Well why me?" Sirius whined with a laughing glint in his eyes.

"'Cause JAMES here called Remus and Peter," Kristen grinned.

"Oh…"

"And ah, Sirius, if you don't want to watch Remus get doused on, you might wanna get into the shower. James kind of called it before, but…he's busy."

"Haha, thanks."

"Mhm."

_I guess she's not that bad…_

He hurried and went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

--

Kristen watched Sirius go into the bathroom and shut the door. _Well maybe he isn't that bad…_

"KRISTEN!" James almost screamed.

"What!? And shut up, you're going to wake up--"

He dumped the water onto Remus.

"WHAT THE! JAMES! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Shut up!! Kristen started it!"

Peter sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Wha…"

"DAMMIT! KRISTEN!" James shouted.

"What?! It was yours and Remus' faults for screaming so loudly!"

"Well…and…WHY IS SIRIUS IN THE SHOWER!?" James shrieked like a girl. "I CALLED IT!"

"Jeez James…you were the one who wanted to soak Remus. I wasn't stopping ya."

"Ugh fine. I'll go in next." James grumbled.

"James, you squeal like a girl!" Remus teased.

James pursed his lips laughingly and changed the subject.

"So I thought I heard Sirius say something in his sleep?" James asked Kristen.

"Mhm, something about tacos," she responded.

"Trust Sirius to dream about food in his sleep," Remus snorted.

"Of course," Peter mumbled, sliding into his robes.

Sirius came out of the bathroom, letting steam out as he went. "Done! And James, I heard every word."

James flushed but didn't respond; he had dashed into the bathroom.

Sirius chuckled. "Thanks for waking us up, we might never have gotten to the Great Hall on time."

"Do you people always sleep this late?" Kristen responded, teasing smile on her face.

"Most of the time, unless Remus or James feel the need to eat." Sirius said grinning.

James stepped out of the shower in his robes. "Faster than you Sirius! What are you doing in there? Applying makeup?" he teased.

"No, not exactly. But there _is_ a reason why I have such good looks." He grinned.

Kristen sighed. "This is going to be a _long_ seven years."

"My thoughts exactly," Remus agreed.

Peter sighed. "Do you want to go or not!?" he asked Remus, pointedly staring at the bathroom.

"Oh, um, right!" Remus hurried off.

Kristen sat down on James' bed and checked the time. 7:30.

"You know what, I'm just going to breakfast now."

"Wait!" James called, struggling to pull his sock on and hop to his shoes at the same time.

Kristen turned. "Yes?"

"I'm coming!"

Sirius added, "In that case…I might as well."

"Ok." She left the dormitory, Sirius and James trailing.

"Sirius, when are you going to talk to her?" James hissed at him.

"I don't know! Sometime when you lot aren't around I guess."

"Which is…?"

"I'll tell you when I figure it out!"

By then they had reached the Great Hall. The Gryffindor table was about three-fourths filled, and Kristen was seated at the end. James slid into the seat next to her, and Sirius sat in front.

"So what's the schedule today?" James asked, his voice muffled from the bacon he had shoved into his mouth.

Kristen looked up. "Potions, Transfiguration, Defense against the Dark Arts and Charms."

Sirius scowled. "Oh great. Slughorn with the Slytherins. He's completely mental!"

James agreed, saying, "Yeah. And he keeps trying to suck up to me 'cause I'm a Potter."

Kristen nodded absently, scanning the _Prophet_, chewing on her piece of toast.

"Kristen, you aren't even eating! And you were the one who was so, 'hurry up I'm effing hungry'!" James accused.

"Shh! Reading!"

Remus and Peter arrived with ten minutes left of breakfast.

"Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Peter squeaked.

James shot a look at Remus that clearly said NOW!

Kristen followed Sirius out into the Hall and to Potions. But about halfway to there, James grabbed her and shoved her into a broom closet where they had seen older students, um, getting dirty.

"JAMES!" she shouted, really pissed.

At the same time, Remus pushed Sirius in and shut the door.

"OI!"

Peter snickered.

James said, "Well I guess it's a good thing Remus is the good boy who looks up spells…for example the locking charm. Talk it out!"

_Damn you James, Remus. _Kristen thought, sinking against the wall.

Sirius tried to break out of the closet, but she stopped him.

"Sirius, they have a charm on it. We don't know what it is or the counter spell."

"I know."

"Do you have an idea why they want us to 'talk it out'? Talk what out?"

"Erm…"

"What?"

"Um, they wanted…us to talk about…um…"

"Spit it out already!"

"I don't know!"

"Yeah right! Tell me!"

"I forgot!"

"Mmmmmmhm. So what if I…told the whole school you and McGonagall are having an affair?"

"HOLY CRAP HELL NO!"

"THEN TELL ME!"

"FINE! …..well…you remember yesterday night? When you got mad at me?"

"How could I forget, that was yesterday!"

"Yeah, yeah. Er, anyways…James uh, kind of forced me to swear I'd talk to you a bit…"

"And now we have to talk. I see."

"Yeah."

"Well if your not going to talk, I'm going to sleep."

"No! Don't sleep!"

"Why…"

"'Cause if we don't talk, James and Remus will kick my ass."

"Oh yeah, saving your own skin hm?"

"That's how I work."

"Mhm. Well talk then!"

"I guess we're not the kind of people who go together perfectly…but I'll just say I'm sorry right now for all future…incidents." He smiled crookedly.

"Ah, that's alright. Anyways, I'd probably kill myself living with you four for seven years."

"Thanks…"

"Haha."

A short silence ensued.

"When do you think they'll let us out?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. Maybe if we're lucky at the end of the day."

"Great. Why did I have to go making friends with James anyways?!"

"Ponder that while we wait."

He smiled, though she couldn't see it in the darkness. _I will alright…and how I'll ever survive with you._

* * *

**Review Responses: **

**Love-Pink26: Thanks! Sorry about the last chapter's length, I didn't know what to do with the chapter and decided, oh what the heck, I'll just update. Usually the chapters will be longer though!**

**The Littlest Weasel: Thank you! Yup, I definitely plan to have more fun with the Slytherins by the end of this fic. **

**Sarena678: I will just probably skip through the months until 5****th****-6****th**** year, and include the breaks or more important parts. Anyways, thanks!**


	5. About Time

**Thanks to all my reviewers! Well only two. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

**Well school is starting soon, so updates will be a bit slower. Just a heads up.**

* * *

_How long have we been in the damned closet?! _Sirius wondered irritably as he shifted into a more comfortable position. Kristen had fallen asleep some hours ago and was leaned against him; she had moved after she fell asleep. He was slightly glad for that fact; the broom closet was near the dungeons and cold. Sirius sighed. He'd heard the bell ring three times, and most of the students were heading for the Great Hall for lunch, and yet James and Remus didn't show. _God where are they!?_ He shifted himself slightly and shivered. _It's so cold down here, in a school of magic they couldn't make the halls warmer could they!?_

Suddenly muffled voices were heard. Sirius sat up, and shifted Kristen so she wasn't leaning against him. _It won't do for them to find her leaning against me like that…_

Three people were standing outside of the broom closet, speaking in hushed voices.

_Is it them…? Of course James will get some very angry words soon…_

Something clicked softly and the door opened.

James peered inside as Sirius, shielding his eyes, punched him.

"What was that for Sirius!?" Remus asked, slightly worried for himself.

"For making me suffer in that stupid closet!!!"

"It was for your own good!" Peter squeaked rather indignantly.

Sirius glared at them, turned and shook Kristen awake.

--

James, wincing, exchanged raised eyebrows with Remus. There was a certain wariness Sirius treated her with, no doubt because of what had transpired in the closet. _I'll have to ask him what happened later…_ James thought as Kristen stood up and winced at the bright light.

"Yeah, it was nice of you guys to let us out now," she mumbled, brushing off her robes.

Sirius turned a slightly accusing eye on James, and said, "Yeah! I'm hungry! Do you guys wanna go eat now?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Trust Sirius to think of his stomach..."

"Always," Remus muttered.

James grinned. "So did you two sort everything out?"

Kristen gave him a look that said well yeah!

They turned a corner and walked into the Great Hall.

--

A month passed, and Halloween was just a few days away. And James had a surprise for them. In an aftermath of their pink-hair-dye prank on the Slytherins, he'd decided to pull another one; just in time for Halloween.

"God, James what are you on about?" Sirius whined playfully as James dragged them to their dorm.

Kristen smirked. "Maybe it's about him…and his dear friend Evans."

Remus snorted.

James looked back and grinned cockily. "Unfortunately…not this time Kristen."

"Unfortunately?" Sirius asked. "Getting happy…are we?"

James smiled again. "It's about Halloween, so hurry up!!"

Kristen sighed and raced up the stairs.

Peter looked around, slightly dumbfounded. "Wait, where'd she go?"

Remus hid a smile and ran off after her.

Sirius shrugged and led the other two upstairs, where they found Kristen sitting on James' bed.

"And what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked.

James sat on the other side of his bed and the other three crowded around Sirius' bed.

"Ok. I've been thinking…I wanna do another prank. The one on the Slytherins was really fun, and it was like…an adrenaline rush. Do you guys want to do another one?"

Sirius grinned, with a glint in his eyes, he answered, "Hell yeah! Any…victims in mind?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Sirius…you see this as another attempt to prank the Slytherins don't you?"

"…Yes."

Peter laughed.

James continued, "Ok, this is what we'll do…"

Kristen listened as he outlined his plan. He wanted to levitate all the chairs and tables in the Great Hall… only, instead of everyone noticing they were floating, he tweaked _Wingardium Leviosa_ to jump up at a certain time. That way, everyone would sit down and suddenly be up there chatting with the pumpkins and bats.

_Great…James really is getting into pranking. I guess it is fun…alright, I'll admit I like pranking people as well. Now I've gotten away from my dear mother…I suppose I can do whatever I want…for once. And James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are my friends…_

They all agreed to it, and James looked please.

"Ok, so on Monday, two days from now, we're going to sneak down at like, midnight," he said.

Someone knocked on the door. Remus got up and opened it, and Lily, Aly and Riley walked in.

James looked surprised. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Just wondering what the pranksters would be doing," Lily said smiling.

"Oh." Sirius said rather surprised.

Aly sat down on James' bed. "So…what are you doing?"

Remus struggled to remain innocent. "Nothing."

Riley gave him a look. "Yeah. And McGonagall is dating Dumbledore."

James' jaw dropped. "WHAT!? McGonagall is…oh my god…"

Kristen rolled her eyes. "You are truly stupid."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, James really, Dumbledore is like, a million years old. And McGonagall…don't get me started on her."

James grinned. "I guess."

"Ok, well if you guys aren't doing anything we'll leave," Lily said, "We still need to do Binn's essay."

"Okay," Kristen said, giving them a half-smile. "See you guys later."

They left the room, and James sighed in relief.

"Weird. Oh well. So anyways, remember!!"

Sirius yawned. "Yeah ok."

James flopped down on his bed. "Ok good."

Kristen studied him through narrowed eyes silently.

"What are you looking at?" James asked her laughingly.

"Nothing…unless…"

"Unless what?" Peter asked.

She grinned. "Unless little Jamesie here has a….CRUSH!"

Sirius jumped. "WHAT!? JAMES!"

James flushed. "Wh…what? Kristen, what you're talking about!?"

She smiled again. "You know," and walked out of the room.

"James.." Remus said with a glint in his eyes.

"UM. I gotta go see McGonagall! Detention, you know. See you guys later!"

"Psh. Whatever," Sirius said.

--

Kristen walked back up to her dorm grinning. _Good. Now they won't pester me about Sirius. _She opened the door and found Lily and her two friends inside.

"Hey Kristen," Riley greeted.

"Hey," she said in reply. _They're nice and everything, I'm just not close with them._

"So what _were_ you five doing?" Aly asked. _I've never liked Aly though, she is… I guess the more sneaky kind. _

"Nothing. Just talking."

"Oh," Aly replied, looking slightly disappointed. She turned to Riley. "Don't you think, that Sirius Black is hot?"

Kristen heard it._ Sirius and hot don't go together in the same sentence. I mean…ok, he's attractive, I'll admit that. But I'd never date him. …would I?_

Riley looked surprised. "Well I guess he's good looking…but he's too wild."

"Well then. Lily? What about you?" Aly asked.

"I don't think so. I agree with Riley."

"Oh. Well I think the wildness adds to him. I hope he doesn't like anyone else," Aly commented.

"Oh," Kristen added in, so she wouldn't appear rude. She was liking Aly less and less.

Kristen yawned. "I think I'll go to bed. Good night."

She went into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later. Drawing the curtains around her bed, she fell asleep.

**Review Responses:**

**The Littlest Weasel: Hehe. Yeah, them becoming friends is very key. But they won't get together for awhile yet. Thanks!**

**Love-Pink26: Thanks! Lol. I had a last minute inspiration for the locking in closet scheme haha. Glad you liked it!**


	6. A Sugar Rush and Three Sluts

**Hey! Sorry it took me like a month to update, was busy with my other story…And I have like, three reviews per chapter now on that one…T.T –sob-. Let's see if I can get more! And thanks for the two reviews!!!**

* * *

Kristen woke up, and the other three were still sleeping. _I don't think I could stand talking to Aly again…such a weirdo. _

She stumbled across to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. _I hate today. I can just tell today won't be good. _

Leaving the bathroom, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a top. _Thank God we're allowed to wear other clothes on the week ends. And thank the muggles for jeans. _

Kristen left the room and slipped down towards the guy's room to wake them up. They had asked her to do that; otherwise they would miss breakfast and half of their classes. _So glad it's the weekend. Too bad we're going back to classes tomorrow…_

She reached the door and entered. To her surprise, Sirius was awake. _Wait, why's he awake?_

"Hey," he said, his grey eyes locking into hers.

"Hey. I didn't know you'd be up this early. Early for you I mean."

He smiled crookedly. "Well I don't know…I just felt like waking up."

"If only you could do that every day. Do you want me to wake them up right now?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want time to think by myself or something."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for a bit.

_What's he thinking about? He looks…serious. Haha. What a bad pun. But he doesn't look like the one who loves pranking the Slytherins…more like a completely different person. _

He stared out the window from his bed, not saying a word. _Yeah. Completely different…kinda like Remus. And James…when he's not fooling around. Yeah, yeah, everyone expects the pranksters to always act like that. But I know that they don't. I don't get why…why they don't show that side more often. I think it'll get them more friends…I think. It's not like they'll need it though. God. I don't get them really…I think sometimes I'll probably hate them…one of them, and continue to talk to the other three. Weird. _

She turned her head and studied his expression; something like, hate, anger, sadness, and regret.

"Sirius?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong? You know…I'm going to be here. Just…talking to you. You can tell me…but I get it if you don't want to."

He turned his head towards her and she almost flinched. _What's wrong with him!? He looks so…depressed? _

"It's my _family_."

"Oh. What's…happened?"

"Apparently, they hate me. Well I'd already knew that…My family apparently thinks I'm a blood traitor," he said with biting anger.

_Damn. He's all angry and sad over that…well his family ARE the Blacks. I just wish that they wouldn't be so…blunt about expressing their feelings about Sirius. Blood traitor indeed. _

"It doesn't matter Sirius…If they hate you then you shouldn't be associated with them…because they hate you for who you are."

"Yeah I guess…wait, Kristen?"

"Mhm?"

"What's your family like?"

She paused. "…Controlling," was her reply. "They don't want me to do anything really."

"Oh. So you've basically come to Hogwarts…to escape from them?"

"Yeah. Like you I guess."

"Mhm."

"Do you want me to wake them up now?" she asked.

"Sure."

Kristen rose and grabbed a pillow on the way to James' bed. Sirius watched her, slightly amused.

"Do you want to help?" she asked, grinning. "Before I get all of them?"

He laughed. "Yeah I'll help."

Sirius grabbed his pillow and whacked James hard. He jumped and swore.

"SIRIUS! KRISTEN!"

Laughing, Kristen woke Remus up, and James started a pillow fight.

_Sirius is really getting into the pillow war, _Kristen thought, before deciding it was probably safer to sit out. Plopping down on Sirius' bed, she watched the four boys fight. _Wonder who will win…Probably Sirius. It's probably like, his anger management or something. _

After a while, Sirius indeed won, with James a close second. Remus suggested they walk around the castle, to get even more familiar, and leave Peter to sleep.

"Why Remus?!" James asked sourly, "We already know the castle well enough!"

Remus sighed, and Kristen laughed. "If you WANT to continue to pull pranks…then yeah, you have to know the castle the best of everyone."

James glanced thoughtfully at Remus. "I guess he has a point…"

Sirius sighed slightly. "Jamesie…Remus can twist you to do anything."

Kristen grinned. "You can too Sirius."

"….I don't know what you're talking about."

James snickered. "Mhm."

They came to a stop across from a hump-backed witch cackling, and heard footsteps. For no reason, Kristen pulled the three of them close to the wall on the other side, so they wouldn't be seen, but could see the statue. James peered at the statue, and the 6th year standing in front of it.

"_Dissendium_,"the 6th year muttered, and looked behind him to see if anyone had seen him. No one was there. A hole appeared in the witch's hump and he climbed through it hastily, and the gap swallowed him.

Remus looked around wide-eyed. "Did you guys see that?!"

Sirius nodded slowly. "Yes…and you know what that means?!?"

"What?" James asked.

"We can explore it! And obviously no one knows about it!" Sirius said excitedly.

Kristen was already by the statue's side, and examining it. "Hm…what was it he said again? Dissendium?"

The hole opened up and she jumped slightly. "Oh."

"Well don't just stand there!" Sirius exclaimed impatiently. "Go on!"

Kristen jumped slightly and climbed through the hole and landed on the stone floor. "Ow," she muttered.

"Oi Kristen!! Wanna help us out? Apparently Sirius is too cough FAT to get through himself."

"HEY!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly.

Kristen laughed and grabbed Sirius' hand to pull him through. He fell with an oof and stood up, dusting himself off. "Thanks. And if you don't mind, I have something planned for Jamesie."

Kristen smiled and stepped back. _I guess that's the safest place, back, when you're dealing with Sirius and James. Haha. _

James stuck his head out of the hole, and saw Sirius smirking right in front of him.

"Wha-Oh my-Kristen!!! DEAR LORD HELP ME!!!" James yelped.

Kristen giggled but made no move to help him. _Sirius has it under control. I think. Ehh, better not get caught in the crossfire. _

"KRISTEN!!!!" James whimpered.

She stayed back and Sirius yanked James into the small hallway, and he landed with a thunk on his backside.

"Sirius!!! My ass is VERY important I'll have you know!"

Kristen stepped out of the shadows and rolling her eyes, helped Remus in.

"Do you three want to get to the end of the passageway or not?" Remus asked, slightly irritated.

"Yeah! But I guess we have to be quiet…"

Kristen rolled her eyes. "The guy wouldn't have been so secretive if he wasn't supposed to be here, so yeah we have to be quiet!" she stared at James and Sirius.

Sirius looked away quickly and said, "I felt the temperature drop ten degrees."

James snickered quietly but drew away from the group to explore.

They climbed the steps, feeling the worn stone underneath their feet. _Hm. I wonder where this leads to…or if Dumbledore knows about this. Odd. Ahh tomorrow we have to do the prank. Haha. James better have a good plan…though so far we've learned like, no magic. I guess James and Sirius will prank very often in the following years…_

A loud thunk drove her from her thoughts and she looked up in time to see James stumble back, holding his head.

"Damn thing! Is this the end?" he muttered.

"Hey look, there's a door thingy," Sirius pointed out.

Remus appraised the faint outline and lifted it.

James and Sirius fought silently for the better position to peek in, and Kristen sighed. _Haha._ She shoved both of them aside and went through the door.

"Hey! Kristen!" Sirius whined quietly.

"Sirius shh!" Remus said, craning his neck.

"Oh shi-!" Kristen dove behind a box, but kept her leg on the door.

A stout little man pattered down the stairs and grabbed a three boxes labeled 'Cockroach cluster'. _Ew. Like who'd eat that?! Wait…cockroach cluster?! The sweet shop! Honeyducks or something…Hogsmeade. Aha._

The short man stumped back up the stairs and Kristen breathed again. Muffled voices were heard from under the board and she jumped guiltily and removed her foot. James lifted it and heaved himself into the small basement.

"Sorry! There was someone coming! And I think this is the sweet shop…Honey-something."

"Honeydukes?" James asked, his eyes lighting up.

Sirius poked his head from under the hole. "What? Honeydukes? Are you freaking serious!?"

Kristen rolled her eyes and helped him in. "Yeah. And I know your probably fantasizing about what to eat…Do you have any Galleons?"

Remus snorted. "Yeah. He and James carry around a lot of money. Haha."

James grinned. "I've heard of this place. Best candy ever!"

"Hey James we'll need the Invisibility cloak. Do you have it?" Sirius asked, eyeing the stairs.

"Yeah," James answered, and withdrew the silvery Cloak from inside the folds of his robes.

"Kay, Everyone get under there," Remus said, holding it out.

Kristen gave Remus an odd look. "It's not big enough…" she took out her wand and tapped the cloak. It expanded, leaving enough room for her.

"That's better," James muttered. "I was beginning to fear for my personal space."

They climbed the stairs painstakingly slow, making sure the four of them could fit. An open door at the top of the stairs was their ticket out.

They edged past the register, where a witch with moderate features handled the purchases. It was crammed with people.

"James? I think if we don't take off the Cloak someone will run us over soon," Kristen whispered as she sidestepped a fifth year Ravenclaw quickly.

"Yeah, good point," he answered and led them to a corner next to sherbet balls. Thankfully no one was there, so he whipped off the Cloak and stuffed it back into his robes.

"I'll let you guys shop…I don't want anything," Kristen said pertly.

They nodded and drifted apart to explore the wonders of Honeydukes.

Kristen sat on a bench, examining her nails.

Selena Whitburn, Jessica Munroe, and Kimberly Smith, all first years wearing VERY short mini-skirts came up to her.

"Oh hello Kristen," Selena, the leader said sweetly.

"Hi.." she answered.

"Where's Sirius and James?" Jessica asked. More like whined. _Oh great…more sluts…_

"I wouldn't know. Why are you asking me?" Kristen asked irritably.

"Because you're the one who's always with them," Kimberly said as though it were obvious. "And by the way, which one's yours?" she asked.

Kristen looked at her like she was mad. "Um, none…"

They looked astonished. "But their so CUTE! And HOT! How do you NOT like them?"

Kristen was getting pissed right about now. "Fuck, I'm not sluts like some people. And I do wish you _luck_ trying to get them to like you," she left them behind and went off to find them. Kristen spotted the trio at the register, handing over a considerable amount of Galleons and Sickles.

"Hey! See anyone?" Remus asked, and grabbed the large bag he, James and Sirius had filled.

"Wow…Are you guys going to like…get on a sugar high or something?" Kristen asked.

"Eh…maybe," James said, shrugging. "Now answer the question!"

"The sluts. No one else," she said.

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"Selena Whitburn, Jessica Munroe, and Kimberly Smith," she answered.

"Oh," James said, eyeing her expression.

"Oh. We'd better get back up to the castle now," Remus said, checking the time on the wall.

"Mhm," the other three said, and they began the trek up to Hogwarts.

--_Some time later—_

"OH MY EFFING GOD SIRIUS IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW I SWEAR I WILL--" Kristen screamed, deciding she'd had enough.

He'd thought the sweets they had gotten from Hogsmeade were getting a bit lonely…so he went and ate maybe a third of it. _Great. Now's he's on a sugar high,_ Kristen thought.

"You swear you will do what dear Kristenny?" Sirius giggled.

She flinched. "Did you just…GIGGLE?!? AND OH MY GOD DO NOT, AND I MEAN DO NOT CALL ME KRISTENNY!!!"

"HEHE! YES I DIDS YES SURY!"

Remus, Peter and James cowered next to the window, behind Peter's bed.

Kristen rounded on them. "DEAR LORD, YOU WILL NOT EVER LET SIRIUS EAT SO MUCH SUGAR IN ONE GO AGAIN!!!!"

Said person emitted the same high-pitched laugh again. And again. And again.

"SIRIUS!" Kristen screamed.

* * *

**Keke. So how was that? Sorry it took me awhile to update, didn't know what to write. How'd I do? R&R please!**

**Sarena678: keke. They'll definitely become friends, just a matter of when haha. **

**The Littlest Weasel: Hehe. People always get their own spots in my stories…lol. Yes, Aly indeed shall be a problem, you're perceptive! Thanks!!**


	7. Halloween

**Thanks for the [one review! Go the Littlest Weasel!**

**Sniff. My other story has like, no reviewers left alive. Can we change that with this chappie? **

**HAPPY LABOR DAY!!! Even though its like 10:00**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize**

**--**

After knocking Sirius out with the help of a terrified house-elf, the other four sat down wearily.

"I swear, James, Remus, if you EVER let Sirius near sugar in the morning I will…"

"You will what?" James asked innocently.

She smiled sweetly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"No. Not anymore," Remus put in.

She nodded. "Smart."

Lily, Aly and Riley sauntered into the common room and sat on the remaining couch looking relieved.

"Is he gone?" Riley asked.

"That can only mean one thing. Sirius right?" Kristen asked.

"Mhm!" Lily emphatically agreed.

Aly smirked. "I thought it was rather funny."

Illera shot her a look. "It wouldn't be funny if YOU were the one dealing with him!"

"Eh, maybe. I _wasn't _the one dealing with him anyways. YOU were."

Kristen sent subtle but sharp knives in her direction. "Yes, and I appreciate your thanks in me knocking him out," she countered and left the common room.

"What's her problem?" Aly asked no one in particular in the silence that ensued.

_Kristen is obviously one of the more complicated people,_ James thought. _This is her second "fight"; the first was with Sirius right. But now she and Sirius are good. Though I kind of understand why Kristen was angry. It took her a long time to knock him out, and Aly comes in with her attitude. Well Aly didn't have a great attitude anyways. I guess I would be a bit mad too._

Remus glanced at James and he knew that Remus was thinking the same thing that he was. _Oh dear. That might be a problem in years to come._

--

Kristen went up the stairs and into her dormitory. _Ugh. And I have to room with her for…six more years. Great. Why are Lily and Riley friends with her anyways? _

_Jeez. They're so different, Lily and Riley are nice, smart, and they try to do their best. They don't exactly want to cause people harm. Aly on the other hand…I doubt she tries in classes. Obviously not nice. Goldigger. Haha. I'll really miss Charles, Erica and Jonathan. Squibs. Squib triplets. I won't be seeing them till maybe Christmas. Wish they weren't Squibs…then maybe I could see them more often. Hopefully. Charles; wild, funny, playa! The one who got me into Muggle stuff. Heh…Almost like Sirius. Anyways…Erica, the playful, immature [in a good way one. And Jonathan's all serious, but he's crazy and hyper too. Mhm, good times. I think I'll send them a letter…where's Hades. Ah right, in the Owlery. Hades…Why did Charles have to go and name him that. Some Greek god's name. Didn't know Charles was into myths._

She sat down at one of the desks and took a quill and parchment out. _Dear Jonathan, Erica and Charles…_

Kristen finished the letter ten minutes later; telling her friends of Hogwarts, classes, the professors, and plans to see them soon. _With love, Kristen_, she finished off.

Going out the door, she made her way out the common room and to the Owlery. Holding her hand out, an eagle owl flew down and nipped her hand affectionately.

"Hey Hades. I have a letter for the triplets-you remember them right?"

Hades hooted dolefully. He had a special connection with Charles, thus indicated when Charles named him.

"Thanks." Kristen tied the envelope to Hades' leg and he flew off.

She watched the dark eagle owl fly out into the setting sun and realized she was hungry. _Dammit. Now I have to go and face Aly and her friends again. Ugh. Oh well, there's a little useful something called ignoring…just as long as the other person isn't too stupid. Oh well. _

Kristen walked down to the Great Hall and spotted James, Remus , Sirius and Peter at the end of the table. Lily sat next to James, Riley next to Remus, Aly next to Lily, Sirius on the other side of James, and Peter on the other side of Remus. Kristen squeezed in on Sirius' other side.

"So you finally woke up?" she teased.

"Yeah. After Peter doused me with water. You and that house-elf are _through_," he winced.

She grinned. "I try to be. Want the name of the house-elf who did the honors?"

"Yes PLEASE. They are getting a nice surprise soon."

Kristen rolled her eyes. "On second thought…"

Aly interrupted the conversation.

"Hey Siri-poo!!"

Kristen twitched at the sound of her voice and the disgusting nick-name. Simultaneously, the other three guys gagged, and Lily and Riley raised their eyebrows.

_UMMM!?!?! WHAT THE FLIPP!?!?_

"Er…Yes?" Sirius answered, clearly startled.

Aly smiled sweetly. "Could you pass me the napkins? I'm afraid I made a boo-boo," she glanced down at her chest.

Kristen snorted. "I feel nauseous," she muttered. James, Remus and Peter emphatically nodded, their mouths full.

Sirius glanced at Kristen strangely before giving Aly a couple of napkins.

She simpered sickenly. "Thanks so much Siri!"

'Siri' nodded awkwardly and returned to shoveling food into his mouth.

Kristen snickered.

"What?" Sirius asked, turning towards her.

"Well…I don't know _Siri_…" she grinned.

James had a malevolent glint in his eyes. "Yes Siri, what is it _Siri_?"

Remus and Peter caught on. "Yes _Siri,_ what's up _Siri_?" they chimed in.

Sirius was feeling a little nonplussed. _Um. What was hell was up with Aly…being a complete loser. AH! DAMMIT! THEY'VE STARTED CALLING ME…__Siri.__ Like…my god. No. NO! DAMN YOU ALY!_

--

The next day, the classes whizzed by. In the last class, Transfiguration, Kristen doodled absently. The bell rang and she jumped. _Oh. Haha. Just the bell…_

She packed up her things and was about to go out the door when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she spotted Alex Wood.

"Hey, Kristen is that right?" he asked warmly.

She smiled. "Yeah. Alex right?"

"Mhm. So what's up?"

"Mm, nothing really."

James, Peter, Remus and Sirius came over, Sirius with his eyes narrowed.

"Yo Wood!" James called.

Alex turned and greeted them.

"Hey Potter, Lupin, Black, Peter." _He has a Scottish accent. Ehh, I guess he's good looking, if he liked me I probably wouldn't turn him down. He's nice. _

They exchanged small talk for a bit; though Alex flicked his gaze towards her more often than was necessary.

Finally, he said, "I'll see you all later," and left with a rather reluctant glance at Kristen.

"So Kristen, what did he want?" Sirius asked

_I have no effing clue…_

She shrugged. "Dunno."

"Oh."

They reached the Fat Lady and Peter asked, "Wait…What's the password again?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Godric…remember?"

"Oh yeah…"

The portrait swung open and James rushed up to the boy's dorm. Kristen glanced at Sirius.

"What is he all excited about?" she asked him.

Sirius shrugged. "I dunno. Oh right, tomorrow's Halloween. The prank."

"Oh yeah…We better get up there, we have to finish the prank tonight."

"Mhm." Sirius sounded rather listless and distracted, but Kristen didn't dwell on it.

James came back down and asked, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Remus sighed and brought the other three up.

"Ok. The spell is _Wingardium Leviosa Levoir_. _Levoir_ makes the spell wait until I flick my wand, then it'll spring active. We're going under the Cloak, and we only need our wands. In the Great Hall, we better be careful for Filch and his cat, and the ghosts. And-"

Kristen rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes we have to be careful. We know."

"Good! Now, its 4:53, we'll be going down to dinner in like two hours. After that…like say twenty minutes after curfew, we'll sneak down."

"And what do we do now?" Sirius asked.

"We….do our homework," Remus cut in.

Sirius and James looked horrified. "BUT!!! NO!!! NOT THE HOMEWORK!!!"

Kristen rolled her eyes. "Whatever…I'm going to do it. We only have that essay for McGonagall anyways. I'll see you guys later."

She made to go out of the room, but James and Sirius stopped her with puppy eyes.

"WAIT!!! KRISTEN!!!! Dear, dear, Kristen, our bestest friend!!!"

_Oh dear……._

"Yes?" she asked suspiciously.

Sirius smiled innocently. "Could we study and write our essay with you?"

"You mean copy off me hm? No. Bye!"

"BUT-"

James was cut off when the door clicked back in place.

"Dammit."

"It was worth a shot."

_--_ _An essay and seven hours later --_

"OW SIRIUS THAT WAS MY FOOT!" James half screamed as they laboriously made their way into the Great Hall.

"God shut up!! And sorry," Sirius said, straining his neck to see if there was anyone there.

Empty. The plan was for Peter to stand guard under the Invisibility Cloak with a couple of Dungbombs, to throw far away if he heard a teacher. They were banking on the teacher running to the source of it and, and it served as an alarm.

"_Wingardium Leviosa Levoir,"_ Kristen muttered as she went down the Ravenclaw table. They'd split the four tables between the four of them, Sirius having Slytherin, James Gryffindor and Remus Hufflepuff. Sirius had brought some…_extra_ items, specially for Slytherins. _How nice of him._

A couple of hours later, they traipsed back to the dormitory.

"Damn…my hand REALLY hurts from all that flicking," James moaned.

"Mhm. My hand doesn't. HAHA!" Sirius added in.

James made an obscene gesture. "Whatever! Oh damn, it's like, 12:30. I'm tired…bye Kristen."

"Kay. See you tomorrow," she answered and followed the passageway to the girl's dorms.

The boys went up to their dorm and fell face-first onto their beds, barely pausing to say goodnight.

_I wonder what will happen tomorrow…curse James for getting me into pranking. Better not get another detention…_Remus thought blearily before a wave of sleep swept over him.

* * *

**PLEASE R&R!!!! Can I get at least 4 reviews before I post the next chapter?? THANKS!**

**Review Response:**

**The Littlest Weasel: Lol. I didn't write the part where Selena, Kim and Jessica go into Hogsmeade, but no, it's not a well-known passageway. They would have bribed someone to sneak them in [people have their ways. xD. Haha. Eleven year olds really do talk like that, surprisingly. My cousin [and brother talk like that…so the language is basically based off her and my brother, haha. **


	8. Fast Forward A Bit

**Thanks for my [two reviewers!) Sorry this took awhile to get up, writers block...what can ya do?  
**

* * *

James got up early and sat at the window seat, staring out of the window into the sunrise, adrenaline pumping through his blood. _Yes. Today's the prank! We might…pull a prank near Christmas too…you know, an extra present for the Slytherins. Ya never know. _

Sirius started mumbling in his sleep. "AH! Take…that…dumb...agh…Slytherins…"

James rolled his eyes. _Sirius…wait, speaking of him, he was pissed yesterday. I don't know why…Something with Kristen? But he was talking fine with her until Trans-oh. Wood. Alexander, or Alex. I guess. Is that why? Cause he was talking to Kristen? A little over protective much…but why overprotective? Does he-that sly dog! He likes her! But he…does he know that? Does he really like her? Or is he just being overprotective cause she's our friend? Does she like him? Agh! It's so confusing! Though this is probably part of Hogwarts…life. _

Remus started tossing around. A few days ago, he had disappeared somewhere, claiming his father was ill and he needed to go see him. _Bull crap. Do they allow that in Hogwarts?_

Then his thoughts turned to another of his friends, Lily and Riley. _Notice I don't particularly like Aly; she's just all over us. Sickening, though I think Sirius likes the attention…especially after his neglect at home. I guess…Remus doesn't seem to like her as well. And Peter…doesn't seem to like anyone. Loner I guess. Great…_

The door opened and Kristen came in, looking surprised to see him there.

"You're up?" she asked, "Weird. Yesterday it was Sirius, and now you."

James smiled. "Yeah…just thinking. About life."

"I see. Well the prank is today! Are you going to wake them up or shall I?"

"You can, I'm going to take a shower."

"Kay."

James walked into the bathroom and heard Remus curse before a few whams with a pillow. He grinned. _Sounds like Remus is having fun…_

--

Sirius dashed down to breakfast. He'd been the last out of the dorm, and he seriously, for once, didn't want to miss a thing. Squeezing onto the last seat next to Remus, he distinctly saw James give his wand a tiny flick. All of the chairs were yanked up as if by some invisible chain, and many started screaming. However, a group of Gryffindor 6th years laughed it off and started wondering who did it.

James heard and grinned. _Moi of course! Haha. Mom was right…French lessons do come in handy once in awhile…if not just to express yourself. _

He glanced over at Sirius and Remus, who were stifling their laughter at the older girls who kept screaming. _Dear Jesus. Some women are so __stupid__. Hopefully no one I date or make friends with is like that…good thing Kristen isn't either. _

McGonagall was looking flustered.

"EVERYONE REMAIN CALM!" she shouted before waving her wand a couple times and muttering different spells.

Professor Flitwick stood up and squeaked a couple times and flicked his wand sharply. Nothing happened.

The headmaster decided to watch things occur amusingly for a few more minutes before he waved his wand and all the chairs floated downward.

Sirius, Remus and Kristen were trying valiantly to stifle their laughter, and succeeding. The five of them all had grins on their faces, and Lily and Riley stifled their laughter.

The teachers never found out who pranked the school.

--

"ARGH! WHY IS THERE SO MUCH DAMN HOMEWORK!?!" Sirius screamed frustrated after attempting to finish his Charms homework. Yet again.

Kristen glanced at him with half amused eyes. "Cause it's the holidays…Doi."

"Yeah but still!"

James cut in ignoring Sirius, "So you can come to my house this break right?" he asked Kristen.

She shrugged. "After say a week with my Squib friends."

"Why are you visiting them?" James asked.

She glanced at his with half-raised eyebrows. "They're my _friends._" The last word was stretched so that James knew not to argue.

"Er, ok. Anyways, come to my house by Floo at the end of that week okay? We'll get back to Hogwarts together."

She nodded. "Ok."

--

Kristen walked off the train and immediately spotted her family. _…Great…dear old mum. _Muttering a fast goodbye to the four boys, she grabbed her trunk and strode over to her parents, younger brother and sister.

"Kristen!" her mum exclaimed. "We haven't seen you in a long while!" _Yeah no duh…I've been at school…doi. _

"Yeah…" she replied. "Can we go now?"

Her father narrowed his eyes. "That's not very polite missy. But, we were about to leave anyways. Let's go."

Kristen mentally rolled her eyes and followed her family to a fireplace and Flooed home.

Once they all dusted themselves off, Kristen's mum sent her off to her room to unpack.

"Oh and mum, I'll be staying for a week, then going to James' house," she informed them. _This way they can't say I've never told them. _

"What?! Only a week? What are you thinking? Are you crazy?! This is Christmas!"

"Mum, yeah a week. I'll be going to James' house afterwards."

"Who is this _James_?"

"James Potter…"

"Oh him! His family is so delightful! It'd be a very good match Kristen."

She mentally barfed. _Say what!? Uh, no. James is like my older brother. _

"Whatever. I'll be going."

"Just make sure to stay on his good side!"

"Ok fine." _Whatever. Bitch. _

She lugged her trunk upstairs and opened it to find Charles, Erica and Jonathan in her room.

"HEYY!!" they jumped on her.

She laughed. "Hey guys! You got my letter then?"

"Yeah. Wish we weren't Squibs…it sounds awesome," Jonathan said wistfully.

"Eh, I think the only thing we're missing is Kristen," Charles put in, and opened Hades' cage.

Erica laughed and opened her trunk.

Kristen sat on her bed and asked, "What'd I miss?"

--

Sirius frowned and flopped down on his bed, staring around at his red and gold room. _Nice change from all that green and silver, _he thought. _I so want to Floo to James' house right now…I'll owl him…using that owl my parents have. Good thing it's always liked me. _

He opened his trunk and took out a piece a parchment. Scribbling, he wrote, _Family sucks. Can I come over now?_ Sirius snuck downstairs and over to the drawing room, where the owl lived.

"Hey Pure, could you help me?" he whispered softly. The owl hooted dolefully before hopping onto Sirius' outstretched wrist.

"Thanks."

He tied the letter to the owl's leg and flicked his wrist and the owl took off.

--

Remus sighed. _Today's the full moon…great. _

His mother called down from the kitchen, "Remus! Do you want some cookies?" His mood lifted slightly; his mom always did know how to cheer him up, even unintentionally.

"Coming!" he called back and dumped his trunk in his room before dashing back down to eat the cookies.

--

James grinned, and grabbed his quill and scribbled a hasty reply; _Yeah sure! Awesome! _

Pure hooted and flew off again.

_Yes…what a great year this is turning out to be. Awesome. Hope all years are going to be this good…probably. Dude, its Hogwarts. It'll always be like this. _

--

The week passed by quickly. Kristen found herself waiting impatiently till she could go to James house. Her mother, hoping that they would "fall in love" had granted her permission to go anywhere anytime, so long James was there. _Weirdo. Whatever…this'll last till I'm seventeen. Then I can live wherever I want. Ok you know what…screw that. I'm Flooing to James' house…now. _

Grabbing a piece of parchment, she wrote asking if she could go over now. _My mum's driving me crazy,_ she finished off. Kristen opened Hades' cage and let him fly around a bit before tying the parchment to his leg.

"Can you fly this over to James? I'm not sure if he lives near here or not…though almost everyone who is anyone lives around here. Thanks Hades."

The owl squawked and flew out the window, and she sat down on her bed to wait.

Around twenty minutes later, the owl flew back with James' response. Kristen read it, grinning, and checked the remainder of her possessions if they were in her trunk, and took a handful of green Floo powder.

Tossing it into one of the many fireplaces placed around her house, she said, "Potter Manor!"

_Hehe. Haven't traveled by Floo in awhile…this is going to be fun. _

Kristen kept a firm grip on her trunk and kept her eyes tightly shut as she spun around and around, and finally stopped. She stumbled out and found herself in a large common room-like furnished area. Hearing a series of thumping noises behind her, she spun around to see James and Sirius running down the stairs and tackle her.

"KRISTEN!" James screeched, and began singing _Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year_ loudly and off-key.

Kristen winced. "Hey. And um, have mercy, please?"

Sirius laughed. "She got you there mate. But I agree…save your singing for little Slytherins."

James pouted, but they could both see the mischievous spark in his eyes. "Why am I friends with you guys again?"

"You love us," Kristen replied.

"But me more," Sirius added.

James grinned and nearly jumped when his parents walked in.

"Hello Sirius. James, dear, who's your friend?" his mum asked, smiling. _She seems like a very nice lady, kind of older though. _She was a shorter lady, with smile lines around her eyes and graying light brown hair. His dad was taller than his wife by about four or five inches, with dark, almost black, but going gray hair. _Well it's obvious where James gets his messy hair. Haha. _

"Oh, mum, dad, this is Kristen, Kristen Chang."

"Nice to meet you! Oh, and we apologize in advance for any…funny stuff James pulls," his dad said, half teasingly and shaking her hand.

Kristen smiled. "Nice to meet you too. And apology, or apologies, accepted."

"Thank goodness dear. Oh, and enjoy your stay at Potter Manor!" James' mum ended off and left the room.

"Sorry Kristen…their kind of…" James trailed off.

"No, it's fine. They're…way better than my parents anyways…" her smile disappeared.

Sirius watched her. _Better than her parents? What __are__ her parents like anyways?_

"So anyways, you can sleep in the room next to Sirius. The next guest room," James hastily put in, sensing that it wasn't a too happy subject.

"Ok. Thanks."

"No problem."

She dragged her trunk up the stairs, following Sirius and dropped it.

"_This_, is my room?!"

* * *

sarena678: Hey thanks! I guess my other two reviewers have died [jk. and there's another Silent reader...T.T 

The Littlest Weasel: Lol, Remus. Yeah Alex is Oliver's dad. I have EVERYTHING planned out. We'll see what happens. -insert angel face here- Yeah, kind of hard to believe but these days..eleven year olds are...-shakes head- haha. Thanks!


	9. Christmas Break

**Thanks for the two reviews!! I'm thinking about turning this into a LJ hate fic till maybe 7****th**** year, it won't be so AU then. Oh, this won't go into the books, I've decided that will be a sequel.**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize isn't mine.**

**--**

_Whoa…this place is awesome! I didn't know James was __**that**__ rich. Well us three are all purebloods. Purebloods…money run in our veins. It's just natural. _

"Fancy huh?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"Definitely…" she answered and pushed her trunk in.

"Wanna go find James now?"

"Yeah ok. Where'd he go anyways?"

"I think to the pool."

"What?! He even has a pool!?"

"Heck yeah. Nothing less here."

She laughed and followed him out to the back, where James was splashing around by himself.

"You have a pool?!" Kristen asked.

"Chya!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Umm? You sounded like Aly…"

"Oh eurgh. Remind me to never use that word again."

Kristen laughed and Sirius asked, "Why not? Aly's fine."

"Dude, uh, no," James disagreed.

"Why?"

"Cause. She's a-"

"OK JAMES! No need to get graphic. Little kiddies are here," Kristen cut in, staring at Sirius with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Whatttt!?!"

"Juuuuuust kidding," she answered, and got pushed into the pool for her trouble.

Kristen popped out of the water and spluttered. "SIRIUS!"

He only grinned.

_Dang. And I'm wearing a sweater, those Muggle 'jeans'…those are comfortable…and like two shirts underneath. Great. I'll get him back!_

Sirius ran back into the house grinning, and Kristen sighed. "Ugh. Oh well, I'll get him later."

James smiled. "Yeah sure you will."

"Just you wait."

--

Remus arrived the day after, and was given the room across from James. The rooms order was James' room, then across that was Sirius', next to Sirius' was Kristen's, and next to James' room was Remus'. It was very late, nearly four in the morning, but they were still up. Excluding Remus. He had nodded off a few hours previously, but Sirius, Kristen and James were still talking.

"Yeah, McGonagall was so pissed at the Halloween feast," Kristen said, semi-glaring at James.

"They never found out it was us though!" he smiled winningly.

"I guess…"

The topic changed and changed over and over again. Eventually, Sirius fell asleep and Kristen smiled evilly.

"Uh, Kristen? Why the devil look?"  
"It's payback for when he pushed me in the pool."

"What is?"

"This." She reached into her trunk and gingerly took out a bright pink bag, almost like a tiny purse.

"What's that?" James asked, now slightly fearing for his life.

"I snitched Aly's make up. I mean, I _borrowed_ it."

"Merlin!!! Are you serious?!"

"Like HECK yeah!"

Opening the bag up, she found bright blue eye shadow, what looked like fuchsia lipstick, hot magenta colored blush, and some mascara.

"Ick. Who has time to wear all this stuff?!" Kristen asked no one in particular.

"Dunno," James answered and eyed the make up. "Can I help?"

"Sure. Okay, just use this brush thing and spread the pink stuff on his cheeks. Be careful!! Don't want him to wake up."

"Ok. Wait, so just dab it on?"

"Yeah that. I'll do the eyes…and when your done with that smear the lipstick on his mouth."

"Haha ok."

Kristen gingerly painted the eye shadow on and then contemplated how to put the mascara on him without him waking up.  
"Hm, maybe…" she wiggled the wand down on his eye lashes and he raised a hand to brush it off. "Shit!' she and James darted out of the way and his arm dropped.

"Never mind we won't do the mascara. Ok, you're done with the lipstick? How long d'you think it'll be till he wakes up?"

"Well maybe…near lunch."

"Haha. Ok. Mental note, don't be near him then."

They put away all the make up and Kristen tossed it into her trunk.

"Ack. I'm tired…but I'll probably sleep like twelve hours, then Sirius will find something to do to me."

"I don't think so…actually Sirius sleeps pretty late."

"He does?"

"Yeah. He's been here about two weeks, I think I would know."

"Haha. If you say so," Kristen said and gradually fell asleep.

James smiled. _She's funny like that…I wonder…hehe…I'll do something to Remus…Maybe…permanent marker? Bless those Muggles…Though mum really needs to stop going to Muggle stores._

He crept out away from the room and down the stairs, along a large hall where he turned left twice, right once and found himself in the kitchen. _This drawer right, the one next to the stove..._James extracted a rather large marker. The label told him it was a _Sharpie_ brand. _Muggles…so…different. But funny._ He darted out of the kitchen and back in his room where he snuck closer and closer to Remus. Bending over his friend, James drew rather painstakingly, a mustache and a unibrow. _Hehe. This'll get him to loosen up._

Stepping away, he tossed the Sharpie onto his desk, making a mental note to put it back later. James flopped down on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

--

Kristen sat up and brushed the hair out of her eyes sleepily. And caught sight of Sirius' made up face. Stifling a giggle, she poked James.

"James!"

Blinking, he sat up. "Yeah?" he mumbled blearily.

"We-oh my dear god what did you do to Remus?!" she jumped, seeing Remus' Sharpied face.

"Er…well…drew on his face?" he grinned sheepishly.

She laughed. "Oh. Well that's another one who'll try and kill us…."

"Yeah we better hide."

"Where?"

"There are a million passages and places to hide in this house. Follow me!"

He bounded forward and Kristen shook her head. _How does he have so much energy…when he just woke up too!_ She followed him and weaved in and out of many rooms, along three halls, into the kitchen and out the other side, around four rooms, down a staircase and along two passages before they finally stopped, breathing hard.

"Jesus, I swear flying on a broom would be easier than walking!" James muttered with a half smile.

She laughed. "At least you'll never get fat."

"Impossible."

"So where to now?"

"Hmm…wait."

There was a long, long, long line of portraits, each portraying a member of the Potter lineage. James went to the head, a stern looking man who told him to get back to the books, and counted seven down.

"See, seven is the most magical number," he explained.

She nodded. _What is he going to…_

James tapped the seventh portrait's inhabitant, a chubby wild haired man. He flicked the man's eye and the chubby one scowled.

"Gosh! Merlin, why did _I_ have to be seventh! That's mighty uncomfortable young sir!!"

"Mhm. So what is it now, swing, twist and pull?"

The portrait nodded.

"Okay. Thank you…?"

"Matill. Matill Potter!! Remember and respect your family young master!"

"Yeah. I will. See you later."

The portrait was spared from responding when James swung the frame by its hinge and a knob appeared behind it.

"Kristen, see, if you don't tap his eye then the knob won't appear. We have so many hiding places like this, mostly to hide everyone when needed."

"I see," she answered.

He pulled the knob out and twisted it. Four previously unseen lines appeared, creating a door that opened soundlessly and quickly. James slipped inside and Kristen followed.

"Wow! James, I seriously love your house," she said, staring in awe at the richly furnished room.

"Really? That's only like the meeting place. See there's the escape hatch, bathroom, and mini kitchen. And these panels open up to be beds."

"Woah…how many of these safety places do you have?"

"Well quite a lot. This is one that's more under ground. We have one on the upstairs, where the bedrooms are, two on the East side and two on the West side, depending on where you are. They all are the same, just maybe the rooms are mixed up."

"That's really cool. Hey, do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah, it's" he craned his head to look at the clock on the wall, "12:29. Sirius should be waking up right about…now…or he's already up."

Just then, they heard a distant scream. "JAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

**Didja like it? I think I'm going to exhaust my creativity by the time this story is over…lol. How was it? I know it's a bit short, but I have to go really son and I'll be without a computer for a bit, so decided to post.**

**Can I get three reviews…??????**

**Review Responses:**

**The Littlest Weasel: Haha. Lol, the angel face! It won't happen anytime soon though, not till their older. The next chapter should be the end of the year, I want to get to the other years soon. **

**Sarena678: Lol, that review gave me the inspiration for Sirius' made up face and Remus newly acquired mustache and unibrow. Hehe. **


	10. Spazzic Sirius

**Thanks for the reviews!! Sorry this is a bit late, I've been doing other chapters on my other two stories.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

**--**

James shut the portrait door quickly, and raced into the deepest room, where they wouldn't be heard.

"Crap…" he muttered.

"What? Don't tell me he knows about this hiding place!"

"Erm, no he doesn't. I said crap 'cause we'll probably be in here awhile. And then my parents _might_ start worrying…I just hope they don't inform the Ministry like last time."

"Your parents…never mind."

"Haha that's what everyone says."

"I see why."

"Yeah."

"So how long d'you think it will be till we can come out?" Kristen asked, looking around the room.

"Well, I think his shout will have woken Remus up, 'cause he's a light sleeper," James checked his watch. "Um, maybe an hour to two hours."

Just then, a distant thumping and shouts reached their ears.

"James, if I don't make it out alive, I swear, I will kill you," Kristen muttered and glanced nervously at the door.

James gave her a weird look that said, _wait, that doesn't make sense!_

"Er, don't worry. They won't ever get in here."

_------Five hours later------_

Kristen pushed the door closed and slipped into the hall, James in front of her.

"Shhh. Ok, we can escape out into the living room, and then I'll go upstairs and see if it's clear. Ok?"

"No. I'll go with you."

"Sure."

Both of them continued creeping silently closer and closer. At one point, with a grin, James had started to army crawl, only to wince when the tile banged against his knee.

"Smooth James," Kristen grinned teasingly. It was hard to NOT smile when she was around them.

"Thanks."

"Yup."

James snuck into the living room and Kristen followed him. He was about to go up the stairs when two dark blurs tackled him, screaming, "JAMES!"

"HOLY SHIT!" James yelped and dove for the door, but Remus had a hold of his legs.

Sirius sat on James' chest and said, "Alright. HOW DO YOU GET THIS CRAP OFF!?!"

James fake whimpered and said, "I don't know!!! Ask Kristen!!"

"SHHH JAMES!"

Sirius got up, chasing her upstairs and jumped on her.

"Holy-" she cut off, gasping for breath. "My god Sirius you weigh so much!"

"NO I DON'T! Now how do you get this stuff off?!"

"Get off me!!"

"No." _He sounds like a baby. No. Haha._

"I'll tell you how to get it off if you get off me."

"Ok!! Now HOW do you get this off?!?"

"Ok ok!!! Here I'll get the remover." She went into her room and dug out a small bottle in Aly's bag, and handed it to him.

"Shake that up and put it on like a tissue and wipe your face, it should get everything off," Kristen said, shoving him into the bathroom.

"Wait, what if it doesn't come off?!" Sirius asked, worry lines creasing his face.

"Don't worry, it will. I had to test everything before you. Trust me, it works."

"Haha, ok."

He went into the bathroom and then came out again. "Wait, how do you use it again?"

Kristen rolled her eyes. "Here, I'll show you." She took the jar of remover from him and shook it a little and dumped some into a napkin.

"Close your eyes," she said softly.

Sirius closed his eyes and she pressed the napkin over the make up, watching it dissolve and moved onto the next part. After about five minutes, she threw the napkin out and told him he should wash his face.

He splashed his face with water and turned to her.

"Thanks," he murmured and hugged her before running downstairs his cheeks bright red.

Kristen couldn't suppress the laughter that was so complete it was silent. _He was so embarrassed! Wait, but why…we're all friends. And Peter is supposed to come soon. _

Shrugging it off, she went downstairs to where they were waiting.

_--Six months later—_

The five of them and Lily, Riley and Aly sat in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

"SHIT!" James jumped backwards into Lily's lap as the cards exploded.

"James!" Lily shrieked and James stood up quickly, shooting her an apologetic and embarrassed look.

"Sorry Lily!"

Sirius snickered. "Very smart James."

"Shut up."

Kristen watched them and Remus started talking to Riley. _Another couple in the making, _she thought and grinned.

"Hey Kristen, what are you going to do over the summer?" Sirius turned to her.

"Well James said I could go directly to his house; I can't stand being near my mum."

"What about your friends?"

"Oh. Their going to a year-round boarding school, and they have a break when we get back to Hogwarts. And my mom…I told her I was going to be at James' house"

"Ah. That must suck. Does your mom like James or something?"

"Mhm. She thinks it'd be a good 'match'. Are you going to James' house?"

His smile faded. "Well…I first have to go home. For about a week. Then I can go to James' house. More like escape really."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

James joined the conversation. "Sirius do you really have to go home?

"Well. I guess not. Not like my parents would miss me."

"Yeah! So you can come with us?"

"Mhm."

Aly sidled closer to Sirius. "Where are you going Siri?"

He glanced at her strangely. "Um, to James' house."

"Oh! Can I come?" she asked.

Kristen snorted. "If you do then I'm out."

Peter snorted into his Chocolate Frog. James hid a grin and Remus just continued talking to Riley. Aly pouted and Lily gave Kristen an odd look.

"That's not very nice Kristen," Aly said giving her a nasty look.

She shrugged. "And?"

"You're not nice."

"Did I ever deny it?"

"No. But-"

Someone slid the door open and Kristen turned her back on Aly. It was Alex.

"Hey um, Kristen, can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked, nothing the strange scene of Aly glaring daggers at Kristen, Sirius staring at him and everyone else silent.

"Yeah sure," Kristen left the chilly compartment.

Alex led her to a small space where no one was.

"So what are you going to do over the holidays?" he asked her.

"Umm, dunno really. I think I'll be at James' house with Sirius, Remus, Peter…and maybe the girls."

"Oh. Do you like them?"

"Well they're my friends."

"I meant the girls."

"Except for Aly, yeah."

He chuckled. "Yeah I don't really like her. She doesn't try in classes, and she's always staring at Black."

"Mhm."

"Do you like any of them? Like Potter, Lupin or Black?" he asked suddenly.

The question caught her off guard. "Er…no."

"You don't? Then why do you always hang around them?"

"Well they're my friends."

"Ah."

"So where are your friends?"

"Kinda ditched them for a bit."

"Oh. For me?" she smiled.

"Yeah," he laughed.

Sirius watched them from behind a door. _Why does she look so happy? Does Wood like her? 'Cause I sure as hell can see why. Wait what?! No, I don't see why he'd like her. Just maybe cause she's pretty, smart, funny and nice…wait huh?! No. I'm not attracted to her. I can't be; she's well…like my sister. I guess. I better not get found out…Kristen wouldn't be too happy. If I've learned anything about her this year, it's she hates people snooping on her, especially her friends. I guess she thinks it shows they don't have a strong a bond as she thought. Shit! They're going back!_

He silently raced back to the compartment and slowed down before going in.

Kristen came in a couple seconds later and sat down rather far away from Aly.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Sirius asked casually.

She shrugged. "Nothing really. He asked me what I was going to do for break and stuff."

"Oh."

Aly muttered, "I bet Kristen was making out with Wood."

Kristen rolled her eyes and muttered back in a stage whisper, "How much do you want to bet on that?"

"Twenty Galleons."

"Save your money. You're going to lose it anyways," Kristen murmured back, still in a whisper. "Slut."

"Whore."

"Bitch."

"Player."

"Is there anything wrong with being a player jackass?"

"Not if you're a guy."

"Your point being…?"

"Slut."

"Bitch."

"Whore."

"Hooker."

"Hoe."

Sirius cracked. "OH MY FUCKING GOD. SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY! GOD. Ok. If either of you can't be in the same room without jumping down each other's throats then one of you better leave!"

"YEAH WELL, IF THAT'S HOW YOU WANT IT THEN FINE! I DON'T FREAKIN' NEED YOU GUYS ANYWAYS!" Kristen yelled back and slammed the compartment door. The look on Sirius' face clearly said that he never wanted Kristen to go; he'd wanted Aly to leave.

James thought, _Oh. Shit._

-

**How was that? Oh and sorry for the (rather) violent screaming. Just had to make the hate apparent. **

**W00 I got three reviews!**

**Review Responses:**

**Celiana: Lol, I really loved writing that scene. Just gotta get way more caffeine for when I write prank scenes; unlike the Marauder's I'm not hyper 24/7. Glad you liked it!**

**The Littlest Weasel: I'm going to have maybe four or five chapters for this year, then a bit more for 3****rd****, and gradually more till they graduate. Lol yeah when James counts down it really shows how much time they've been spending together. I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing :)**

**Sarena678: Lol. I loved that make up scene-trust Aly to have makeup with her! The sharpie on Remus' face was a rather late addition. I've been neglecting the Lily/James part, I think I'm going to make it a hate fic till maybe like fifth year, then they'll get to know each other a bit more. Glad you liked it!**


	11. the Snivelly

**w00! three reviews! Thanks!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

**--**

Kristen breathed deeply, trying to not get to angry. There was still about an hour left and she wasn't going to go back anytime soon. _I can't believe it. Sirius freakin' sided with her over me. God I want to frickin punch her!!! Well he didn't really side with her, but I bet he really wanted me to go. That settles it. I hate Allison Gilmore. _

She strode down to the end of the train. _Wow. Did the train get an extension? There's like, four compartments back here. Well next time I'm going to sit back here. I don't give a shit if thy sit with me or not._

Kristen slid the very last compartment's door open and sat in it, staring out the window, which was a sea of blue sky and green grass. _Breathe in breathe out. Breathe. _After a little bit she felt calm again. _Well should I still go with James? I think I should. I've said I would…and anyways, the girls won't be going. I hope. I guess I'll just be ignoring Sirius the whole time…until I get over that. _

Someone slid open the door. It was Riley.

"Hey," she said tentatively.

Kristen turned to her. "Hey."

"I'm sorry about Aly…she's been…really bitchy lately. I think its cause she likes Sirius and she thinks Sirius likes you."

Kristen snorted. "I didn't realize she was THAT retarded."

"Well you two do act like it."

Kristen turned incredulous eyes on Riley. "Excuse me?"

"Well…I don't know how to explain it. You five are all really close, and sometimes you, Sirius and James act like siblings, but then sometimes you act like you like each other."

"I didn't realize that."

"Well I think that's why Aly was really mad. She's kind of obsessed with Sirius; only you'd have a much better chance with him."

"You and Lily would have better chances with Remus and James."

It was Riley's turn to be silent. "Well…"

"Well what?"

"Sirius kind of asked me to tell you--"

"Tell them if they have anything to say to me they can say it to my face."

Riley sighed. "I said I'm sorry for the way Aly treated you. I don't agree with her. But you're just making this difficult."

Kristen didn't say anything and Riley left. Kristen sighed. _I just know they'll come._

She debated moving into another compartment. _Wow. I don't know why I'm like this. It's like what Erica said. I'm…cold._

--

Riley got James, Remus and Sirius out into the hallway of the compartment.

"She err says…"

"Yes? What'd she say?" Sirius asked.

"She said if you have something to say to her to say it to her face."

Remus sighed. "Guys, lets get looking."

Riley opened the door to the compartment, about to go back in.

"WAIT!" Sirius yelped.

"What?"

"Where is she? Can you at least tell me that?"

"Sorry. No." Riley went in and shut the door.

Sirius swore. "Dammit."

Remus sighed again. "Sirius, mate, I'm sorry, but you really screwed up."

"Thanks."

"Hey that's ok mate. Girls are confusing as hell," James put in. "How about you look that way, me and Remus search up front?"

"Okay."

Sirius headed towards the back, looking through every compartment window to see if Kristen was there. James and Remus exchanged looks, and let him go on ahead a little and started to follow him.

After awhile, he stopped at the last compartment and let himself in. James and Remus had a silent, violent scuffle for who could get the better spot to listen at, but there were two spots where you could put your trunks outside. They squeezed in and shut up in time to hear what Sirius said.

--

He sat down in front of her and tried to work out what to say to her. She was looking out the window, ignoring him. _She won't make this easy for me…I think all she wants to hear is I'm sorry. Because I am. Sorry. I didn't want her to go out of the compartment…_

"Kristen?" he asked tentatively.

She turned slowly to him, her gaze not really critical, but sizing him up.

"I'm sorry."

"Sirius…Did you mean-" she asked softly.

"I didn't mean you! I-I meant Aly."

She smiled slowly. "That's all I needed to hear."

Sirius looked visibly happier. _Damn she's beautiful when she smiles. I-wait, what?! Noo. She's your __**sister**__. You __**can't**__ be attracted to her. 'Cause you aren't. _

"I'm not going back to that compartment though. I guess I'll get my trunk when Aly leaves."

"You know Lily and Riley feel bad about…that right?"

"Yeah I know."

Behind the outer wooden walls of the compartment, James and Remus crouched, listening.

"You know she'd be really pissed if she found out we were here!" Remus whispered as quietly as we could.

"We could pretend we just found them. I think we should go in."

"But what if--ok fine."

They stood up and slid the compartment door open.

"Hey. So Sirius, why didn't you tell us you'd found her?!" James glared at him.

Remus hid a smile. _Wow James is a good actor…_

"Well I was kind of busy!" Sirius said indignantly.

Kristen cracked a grin; it was almost impossible not to smile when she was around them. So basically, she smiled 24/7.

"So Kristen, are you still coming to my house?" James asked carefully.

"I guess. Are the other three going?"

"Well I know Lily and Riley will. Aly I think she said her family's going to Italy or something for a month or so."

"Oh."

The train came to a halt.

"Ok, I think the girls will be gone now, so Kristen you can come with us," James said, craning his neck.

"M'kay." She pushed herself off the seat and followed Sirius to the other compartment.

Indeed, the girls were gone. There was a note in Lily's handwriting that said they'd decided to go on ahead and to meet up with them later on in the break.

They slid their trunks from above and went out onto the platform. Peter and James' parents were waiting for them

"Hey sorry guys but my dad's really sick again, so…I don't think I can go with you all," Peter said, looking down as he spoke. Kristen flicked her gaze to the tired and grey looking couple behind him. _He does look sick…_

James looked disappointed but understanding. "That's alright Pete. Another time then?"

"Yeah. Another time," Peter murmured and waved goodbye to them.

James' parents smiled at them. "Had a good year?" his dad asked.

"Yeah, Hogwarts is awesome!" Sirius enthusiastically answered.

"Better than being at home," Kristen muttered, but giving them a smile nonetheless.

"Yeah. Only I have to study for so many tests and exams!" Remus grinned.

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah it was great dad. How're we going to get back?"

"Well we've decided to Apparate. First I think your mom can go, with Kristen and Sirius and they're trunks, and then I'll take you and Remus. Sound good?"

"Yeah that's great."

First, James' mother told them to take hold of her hands with one of their hands, and grab their trunks with another. Then, Kristen felt like space was compressing upon her; she was being squished into a tiny, tiny box. _Ow….painful…_ then the sensation stopped.

Sirius looked like he was about to be sick, and Mrs. Potter smiled softly.

"Sorry about that, the sensation does take some getting used to," she said and looked up as another pop was heard. James and Remus sank down onto armchairs and Mr. Potter chuckled quietly.

"That does take getting used to. Sorry boys," he said.

"Yeah…no problem dad," James muttered.

His parents just smiled and left.

"That was…interesting," Kristen said, sitting down on a large sofa.

"I think I'll stick to brooms," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Hey want to go swimming in the pool?" Remus asked, already recovered from the pain experience.

Sirius brightened. "Yeah! Last one there is a Snivelly!"

"Oi mate!! Sirius you have too strong an imagination!!" James yelped and raced to the backyard. The three of them looked at each other and dashed off.

"CRAP!" Remus yelped as he was left behind. He poured on the speed, and reached there just after Kristen, but before Sirius.

"SIRIUS! YOU'RE THE SNIVELLY!" James shouted, grinning, and pushed him into the pool.

**--**

**Whew…author's block. Couldn't figure out what to put in here. So anyways, how was it? R&R Please! **

**Can I get…four reviews?**

**Review responses:**

**Sarena678: Lol, yeah the yelling match was kind of extreme. Just to show the extreme hate; hope this chapter clarifies it a bit :) **

**The Littlest Weasel: Hope this chapter answered your question! Kristen is too much of a softie, she couldn't ditch them if she wanted to lol. **


	12. Oh crap!

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Oh and my mom is really pissed at me. B- in LA, D in the Grammar unit. Wants me to play grammar games on my teachers website and read the grammar book. So won't be updating very fast, maybe once every three weeks. You'll probably have to wait till Saturdays for me to get in some pages and update. Sorry!! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

--

Kristen woke up with a start, blinking away nightmares_. Oh my god…I dreamed there was like a battle in Hogwarts…with curses flying everywhere and… people trying to kill me. And kill Sirius… James, Remus and Peter. Where are they anyway…? Oh right…yesterday we were all talking again. In James' room. And I think we fell asleep. Again. Damn! The girls are coming today; including Aly. Bitch. Good thing James' house is so big…I'll make myself disappear for a bit._

Shuddering again at the memory of her terribly vivid nightmare, Kristen stood up, went into the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water._ AH! well. So hot outside, doesn't matter if I freeze myself in here. But it's still cold. It's always cold here…I wonder what it's like abroad. _

She went back to James' room and sat down on the floor, watching the four guys sleep.

_Never mind; it's so freaking boring without the guys. I might as well wake them up right now. _

Kristen pulled Sirius' pillow out from under his head and he hit the carpet with a thud. She winced. _I didn't know his pillow was THAT high up…_

"Ow…what the…"

"Good morning to you too," she said and pushed James sleeping form onto Peter.

"Hey Kristen! That's not very nice. It kinda hurt…" he muttered.

"It's too boring without you guys. I need you guys awake," she answered.

"Glad you missed us," James came round and punched Remus lightly.

Remus and Peter gradually woke up and James' mom was heard saying breakfast was ready. Instantly, James and Sirius' faces lit up and they raced downstairs to gorge themselves.

Remus rolled his eyes and Kristen bemusedly followed the trail down into the kitchen.

--

Several days later, the doorbell rang. James' mum opened it, to find Aly, Riley and Lily.

"Hello! And you must be the three girls James told me so much about! How are you?" she asked.

"Oh, we're great," Lily answered, smiling.

"Good to hear," Remus grinned and the three girls entered the Mansion.

"Wow James, this is really big! Oh, where's Sirius?" Aly noticed Sirius wasn't there.

"Yeah, Kristen's not here either," Riley added in, taking off her shoes.

"Oh they're…um…flying outside I think. We've been to Diagon Alley, and they got those brooms," James answered, waiting for them to follow him.

"Oh," the girls muttered and followed him outside.

Peter was splashing around in the swimming pool, Sirius and Kristen were flying above it. As they watched, Kristen drew closer to Sirius and pushed him off his broom into the pool and grabbed the handle of the broom. Sirius hit the surface of the water quickly; they hadn't been too far above the pool and swam back up to the surface.

"KRISTEN!" he spluttered.

She smiled and landed on the ground. Sirius hoisted himself out of the pool and shook his head, looking very much like a dog as he did so.

"Hey thanks, I needed a bath," he grinned at her.

"Heeeeeyy Siri!!" Aly cut in pasting a sugar sweet smile on her face while simultaneously glaring daggers at Kristen.

Kristen rolled her eyes and turned away from Aly and Sirius.

"Um, hi," she heard Sirius' somewhat quieted voice as she followed everyone else sneaking away.

"Hey guys where are we going?" she whispered as soon as a few trees stood in between the pool and the soon to be second years.

They're heads whipped around and James looked slightly shocked.

"Kristen-!"

"Er, what, am I not supposed to be here?"

"No, you're welcome. We were just talking about Aly," Remus answered as James brought them back into his room.

"Yes, she's been acting weird lately. Ever since around Christmas," Lily said, plopping down on James' bed.

"Yeah, personally if she's going to keep that up I'd rather not talk to her," James murmured. "Too much trouble if you ask me. I'd rather keep my sanity."

The conversation changed to Quidditch and Remus said he'd asked McGonagall if he could announce during matches.

"Of course, it would get a little boring, what with James, Sirius and Kristen trying out for the team," he addressed Riley.

"Hey Lily, Riley, have you ever flown before?" James asked suddenly, his eyes that had been staring out the window snapping back to the two girls.

Lily looked surprised at being asked this. "Well, not out of lessons…"

A large barn owl rapped on the window and James got up to open it.

"Lily, it's for you. And it's from…Snape," he spit the word out as if he were trying to get rid of it as quickly as he could.

Her brows scrunched together. "I wonder what he wants…" she murmured.

Riley changed the subject quickly in order to give Lily time to read her letter.

"Where's Sirius?" she asked, peering out the window.

James turned his attention to her and snorted. "He's probably getting molested by Aly," he muttered.

Kristen cracked a smile.

"What, feeling bad for him now Kristen?" Remus teased. "It's Aly after all."

"I guess. And the fact he's sopping wet."

"True."

Just then, Sirius sprinted into the room and slammed the door, dripping water over the carpet.

"SPEAK OF THE DEVIL!" Kristen yelped and moved closer to James to give Sirius more room.

Sirius was fumbling with the lock and his wand.

"Dear fucking god! If you ever leave me alone with her again I swear I will lock you in a broom closet with her!!" he slid down the bed's end next to Kristen, panting.

"Sirius! You're dripping water all over me. What's that spell again…" she passed her wand over him and he dried off. Only to have James mutter_Aguamenti _and have a burst of water shot at him.

Lily turned around to see Sirius spit out some water, and everyone laughed.

"JAMES!" Sirius got up and leapt for him. Laughing, James edged away and out the door. Sirius followed him and then ran back in, slamming the door wild-eyed.

"OH MY FREAKIN-MERLIN! IT'S HER!"

He wasn't done talking when James started pounding on the door.

"GOD OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR! HURRY UP! SHE'S COMING!"

Kristen snorted and nearly spewed out the butterbeer she was drinking. Sirius was pressed against the door, trying to keep James out. Remus sat looking amused, and Lily, having finished reading her letter, decided to help him out. Peter was cleaning his nails.

She pointed her wand at the door and muttered something, causing the door to fly open and Sirius landed backwards, slamming into Kristen.

"Ow DANG!" Kristen yelped.

James slammed the door and breathed heavily. "Goddammit Sirius next time you do that…I'll lock you with her!"

Said person knocked on the door and said sweetly, "Hey guys! Could you open the door?"

James shot a terror-filled, scared (fake) look at Sirius and they dived into the bathroom that was connected to the other rooms.

Kristen quickly silently followed them and found herself in the room where she slept; Lily and Riley soon came in. Distantly, Kristen saw Remus give a flick to the two doors concealing the bathroom, and unlocking the door of the main room. James and Sirius had opened the closet doors and were cowering inside them; the other five joined them. Lily slid the door shut with a quiet _click_, and they heard Aly stomp through.

"Guys!" she whined. "This isn't funny!"

Sirius' sides shook and Kristen elbowed him as best she could; they were crammed into the tight space and she was nearly on him.

They heard Aly open some doors and walk out into the hall into Sirius' room.

She felt him wince.

"She'll probably steal all his clothes," James muttered from Sirius' other side.

"Not funny," Sirius murmured back.

Kristen snorted quietly.

"Sirius I think you'll be lucky if we do stop talking to her…or she finds some other guy to harass."

"Yeah…"

"Like who?" Peter asked.

"Alex Wood maybe," Kristen answered a little too quickly. She felt Sirius shift slightly, but didn't see him stare at her.

Riley snorted. "I'm sorry Kristen, but you've staked your claim on him already; he has your name written all over him."

"What?!"

"Yeah…"

"Psh. No. I barely talk to him."

"Yeah, he just looks for you to talk to," James added in.

Kristen rolled her eyes but flushed. Lily started to say something but then they heard Aly coming back.

"Guys!!! Come on!"

She flounced out again and Kristen opened the door after she heard Aly go down the stairs.

"Goddammit is she_thorough_," James muttered. Sirius flopped down on Kristen's bed, and Kristen sat next to him.

"Meh…." Sirius emitted an odd noise.

Kristen turned to look at him. "What?"

"I feel sick."

Kristen couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "Maybe cuz you ate like three tons of food this morning."

"………I wouldn't know…"

James' head slumped onto a pillow. "Where to now?" he asked in a muffled voice.

"Dunno. Want to go swimming?" Remus asked, flipping through _Transfiguration Today_.

Sirius brightened. "Woo yeah let's go!"

He jumped off the bed and everyone crammed through the door to get to the pool.

They reached the pool and Sirius pushed Kristen in. Again.

"GODDAMMIT SIRIUS!"

She got out and started chasing him around. He laughed and dove behind James who pushed him into Remus who fell into Riley who dragged Sirius and Remus into the pool with her.

Kristen stuck her tongue out at Sirius, who splashed her with a peal of water.

She jumped backwards into James who pushed her in too.

Sirius jumped up and gave James a deep bow and standing ovation.

James mocked him, bowing. "THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"

The three girls laughed, then froze when Aly stomped outside.

"God. Where WERE all you?!"

--

**How was that? Really couldn't figure anything out to put in, delayed update. Please R&R!**

**Review Responses:**

**Celiana: Lol, I definetly will finish this fic. It'll just take a long while.**

**P.R.M.A.S.: Hey no problem! I took your suggestion—and I'll take the other one too xD. Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it :)**

**Sarena678: Yep, friends again. Here you are!**

**The Littlest Weasel: Lol, yes a little melodramatic. Just the way she is. Thanks!**


	13. We're Finally Back

**Thanks for the reviews! And I don't own anything you recognize.**

**--**

Aly stood, hands on her hips glaring at everybody.

"Well?"

James laughed it off. "Hey Aly, it was just a joke. Lighten up will you?"

She glanced at him and softened. "Ok. Well it wasn't funny."

"We'll keep that in mind."

She jumped into the pool as Kristen got out. Aly snuck by Sirius and started jabbering on and on while Remus helplessly looked at Lily, Riley and Kristen. Lily jerked her head and took out a magazine.

"Oh look. Celestina Warbeck is dating Rameer," Lily commented off-handedly and immediately Aly perked up and jumped to the magazine.

"Are you serious?! She's like twenty! And he's like soo old! Thirty! Ew!"

Sirius sent Lily a look that said_ I owe you one._

James and Remus tugged Sirius and Kristen away into the house. James sprinted along into his room.

"Ok guys I REALLY want to prank Aly…but like at school. So she won't blame Kristen. Well she might."

"Gee thanks," Kristen laughed.

James smiled apologetically. "Sorry. We have to plan out the finer details first though."

"What are you going to do to her?" Kristen asked him.

Sirius grinned. "That, my dear lady, is top secret."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Stuff that!"

He glanced at her laughingly. "That's no way to make me tell you!"

"Tch fine."

Sirius told her anyways. "Well we're going to…"

"Mhm?"

"Well…I dunno….You have to ask James for details."

She gave him an exasperated look then asked James.

"Weeeeeell….maybe you shouldn't hear..."

"STUFF THAT!"

"OK OK! Um well we're going to dye her hair like the Slytherins, only green. Then we're going to draw on her face and put itch powder in her clothes. Good enough for you?"

Kristen smiled evilly. "Mhm."

James grinned. "Good. Cause we'll need you to actually prank her."

She raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"We have the dye and the unwashable markers. And the itch powder. Here's what you need to do…"

Remus and Peter reentered the room and said, "The girls are keeping Gilmore busy."

"Oh so she's reduced to last names now? Goody." Kristen muttered.

James managed a smile and told her how they were going to carry out the prank.

She listened intently and then told him what she thought of it.

"Freaking pure genius!"

The four boys grinned. "Glad you thought so."

"So when will this happen?" she asked, putting the marker, hair dye and powder in a special bag.

"The first day back, in three weeks," James and Sirius said together.

She grinned. "Looking forward to it."

--

Two weeks later, Mrs. Potter had them somewhat packed, the essentials kept out but anything that could be packed was. Everyone was sleeping except for Peter and Remus, both thinking in the silence. _I'm lucky that I'm friends with them…loads of people want to be but we're this group. The permanent group, no matter what happens we're always going to be…us. I hope. _Peter shifted slightly. _I have a feeling Hogwarts will always remember these years…_

--

Remus sighed very quietly in his room, facing out the window. He'd snuck out far far away to transform only a few hours ago, and he was extremely wiped out. _I hope they aren't suspicious. That would be…disastrous. But would they disown me as their friends? Somehow I think they wouldn't…but then…._

He traced his finger over an old scar, hidden by the sleeve of his shirt. _Come what may._

--

Sirius woke up and went downstairs to get something to eat. Of course, food was the first thing on his mind. He'd gotten down to the kitchen and found that Mrs. Potter had breakfast set up already so he took a plate and helped himself. As he sat chewing eggs and bacon his thoughts drifted to his family. Ever since he had been a toddler, his mother had disliked him, saying he was too soft and a turncoat. Then, when he was nine, she'd finally snapped and screamed _Crucio_. Sirius could still remember the screaming and weeks afterward it took him to recover. During that time, he'd escaped to his uncle Alphard, whom his mother thought was teaching him the Dark Arts.

_Uncle Alphard was always the better person of the family. At least when I was at his place no one else was there. And Regulus…well he got corrupted fast. I remember though, when we were really small...he was alright then._

James walked into the kitchen blearily, running a hand through his permanently messy hair.

"'Ey mate. What's for breakfast?"

"The usual." Sirius was in no mood to talk.

"Oh."

James grabbed a plate and a fork and dug in happily.

"Seen the girls yet?" he asked.

Sirius shook his head, chewing on his eggs.

"Do you know where Remus went last night?" James asked, determined to get Sirius to talk.

"No, but I heard him down the stairs at least," Sirius put his family out of mind.

"Oh. I think I heard him open the back door…or something. Did you hear those wolves? I didn't know we had wolves near here."

"Yeah, I was kind of surprised."

"Mph."

Peter came down and blearily sat himself down and grabbed a piece of bacon.

"Hey Peter," Sirius murmured as his head fell onto his arms.

"'Ey Sirius, James," he responded.

Not too long afterwards, Kristen came down yawned and fell asleep on the couch again.

The three guys exchanged looks.

"What was the point of coming down here then?" Peter asked, watching her.

"Dunno," James answered.

--

Two weeks later, they were back at King's Cross.

"Ok dear, James go ahead!" Mrs. Potter called.

Sending a grin at Sirius, who gave him a wink; James pushed his cart and broke into a run. He braced himself. Knowing that the brick wasn't real and running into it were two entirely different things.

James burst onto the platform and saw the scarlet train billowing steam. He waited for the rest of them to appear. First was Sirius, then Remus, then Kristen, Peter, Lily, Aly and Riley.

"Have a good year!!" James' mum called. "And try to stay out of trouble!"

James grinned when he heard his mum. "A bit too late for that," he muttered.

"Let's go find a compartment," Remus said after making sure Riley was beside him.

They followed him onto the train, dragging their trunks with them.

Seeing an open compartment, James slid the door open and dropped down onto the seat with a loud huff.

"Wow we're finally going back," Kristen said, pushing her trunk onto the top rack.

"Yeah. Can't believe it'll already be our second year," Sirius agreed.

James grinned wickedly. "Still 6 more years to pull pranks my dear friends."

"That brightened me up," Sirius grinned as well.

Kristen rolled her eyes.

"I feel soo…bad for McGonagall…"

Sirius stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

Aly took the moment to squeeze in next to Sirius, Peter and Remus. Kristen, James, Lily and Riley sat opposite.

The train ride there took a few hours but it felt so short when Sirius and James were in question.

They changed, guys out in the bathrooms and girls in the compartment.

It grew dark and the train slowed to a stop. James was brimming with excitement. _YES! We're finally back! Good old Hogwarts. Back with everyone…_

They walked down the stairs and blinked.

"Wait how are we supposed to go? The first years go by boat, but…" Sirius trailed off.

"Er over there, see everyone is going there," Remus offered.

"Ah right…" Sirius answered and started off for the carriages.

--

**Hey. Sorry for the lack of updates; been really busy with school and thinking up plots. Please r&r!**

**Review responses:**

**Icefire-lioness: Thanks! Yes, someone told me he was actually chaser, but it's too late now…so I guess he'll just be seeker. And for the invisibility cloak I think James' dad would use a Disillusioning [is that right? charm and he gave the Cloak to James. –wince- I didn't know Molly and Bellatrix weren't at the school when Sirius was…ah well, what's done is done. That's fine if you're a nit-picker; more refreshing then the usual 'please update soon it was great!' reviews. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And thanks again!**

**Celiana: Lol yeah. Schools been really bad lately…so dunno when I can update. Thanks for sticking with this story!**

**The Littlest Weasel: Lol. Something else will happen with Aly; she's not **_**quite**_** out of the picture yet. **

**Sarena678: Haha thanks!**


	14. The First Day

**Thanks for the reviews!! (this chapter dedicated to harrypotterfan318, the only reviewer xD)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.**

**--**

They were crammed into the carriage that still managed to hold them all._ Magically altered I guess. That's what Dad did to his Muggle 'car' thing,_ James thought. He was squashed next to Sirius and Remus, Kristen being on the other side of Remus.

"Well this is fancy," Peter muttered from next to Lily.

"Hey it's horseless! It's fancy enough for Hogwarts!" came Sirius' muffled reply.

Everyone managed a cramped smile.

Whatever was drawing the carriage drew it closer and closer to Hogwarts Castle.

Finally, it stopped and they clambered out. Sirius shook his head like a dog and his hair flopped down to cover his eyes. _Hm. I wonder how many girls will be all over him this time…_James though before grinning. _Kimberly Smith is hot…wonder where she is. She was in a couple classes of ours last year too…_

They entered the castle and sat down at the Gryffindor table, taking up a good chunk of room.

"Kristen!" someone's voice was heard. She turned around and smiled when she saw Alex.

"Hey."

He squeezed in next to her with Sirius on her other side.

"So how was your summer?" James asked, greeting him.

"Great thanks," Alex said warmly.

Sirius joined in. "Are you going to try out for Quidditch this year?"

"Oh, yeah. Keeper."

"Ah. I'm trying out for Beater-"

"Seeker-" James added.

"Chaser," Kristen ended with a grin.

Alex smiled. "What brooms do you guys have?"

"We all have the same brooms; we bought them over the summer. Nimbus 1987." Sirius said.

"Oh. I have the Nimbus 1985, my dad got it for me couple months ago, before the 1987 came out."

"Still a great broom," James said, his eyes now fixed on Dumbledore.

Alex started to agree but was cut off when Dumbledore clinked his spoon against his golden goblet.

"Welcome, first years and welcome back! Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you of the forbidden items which include Fanged Frisbees, Dungbombs and others. If you wish to know the whole list it is located in his office in the dungeons. The Forbidden Forest is indeed, forbidden for our first years and our older students. Quidditch tryouts are in two weeks, on September 15th. Schedules will be handed out tomorrow, first day of term! Now, tuck in!"

The Great Hall erupted in chatter and golden platters were filled. Alex murmured something to Kristen and moved back with his friends.

"Well he's annoying," Sirius muttered to Kristen before helping himself to some mashed potatoes.

She shrugged. "Not really. At least I don't think."

He gave her a look but didn't say anything.

Aly who had been talking to Riley turned her attention onto Kristen.

"Oh dear, I guess the whore is back to her boyfriend," she said snidely.

Kristen calmly took a sip of her pumpkin juice. "At least I'd have a boyfriend."

Sirius almost choked. _Say what now??_

Aly harrumphed and turned back to Lily.

James caught Kristen and Sirius' eyes and he mouthed, _Tonight. I can't stand her any longer._ They grinned and nodded.

Then, the feast was suddenly over and Barty Crouch looked rather stressed as he hurried past them, telling Kristen the password was 'Godric'.

They pushed their way through the crowd and up to the Gryffindor common room.

James found himself in front of a very tipsy Fat Lady who thought she could sing opera very well.

"Godric," James said impatiently.

"No no no, wait wait, la la LAAAAAA!!!!!!" the Fat Lady sang, the nearby portraits fleeing and glass breaking. "Oh my, what a lovely voice.'

"GODDAMMIT GODRIC!" James burst out.

"Yes yes ok." The portrait hole swung open and they clambered through with a 'THANK you' from James.

"Merlin, does she think she's Celestina Warbeck or something?!" Riley said, dazed.

"Apparently…" Sirius muttered with a smile.

Kristen just laughed.

"Hey I'm going to go to bed now," Aly said watching Sirius. "See you guys later!" she flounced off.

"I'd rather not," James said very quietly.

Lily and Riley said they were tired too and said goodnight.

"Ok. So I draw on her and spray dye her hair and put itch powder in her clothes. Wait, Sirius do you have an extra Dungbomb?"

"Heck yeah. Why?"

"Cause…I'll…put it in her bag."

James snickered. "You're becoming one of us now Kristen!"

She grinned.

"Welcome to the clan of…hey guys we need a name…" Sirius started dramatically then went soft.

Remus snorted then went thoughtful. "Hm…let's see…I dunno. Let's let the school name us."

"Yeah, just as long it's nothing like 'snake-faced Slytherin lovers'," James put in.

Kristen laughed. Sirius chuckled halfheartedly.

"I guess. Anyways, we should get up in the dorm before any of the girls find out what we're planning," Remus said with a slight grin.

"Dunno if they'd want to hear…" Sirius was heard before going up the stairs to their dormitory.

The rest of them followed and soon they were back in the warm room they'd left only three months previously.

Sirius started laughing maniacally and the other four gave him an odd look. Kristen raised her eyebrow and asked cautiously, "What have you been smoking?"

"Hehehe, weed, crack, pot, you know, the usual…"

James' eyes widened and he scrambled away from Sirius, behind Kristen.

"Holy shit James how much sugar did you let him have!?" Kristen yelped, backing into him.

"Uh…."

"Say it!"

"A couple bowls of ice cream and a lot of brownies…" James muttered very softly. Too bad she still heard him.

"What!? YOU KNOW HE CAN'T HANDLE SO MUCH SUGAR WITHOUT GOING MAD!"

James twitched and threw Kristen a Dungbomb. She ran out of the room and into hers.

_Wow. I do NOT want to sit near Sirius tomorrow at breakfast…twitch. Ok so now how will I dye her hair green…put itch powder in her robes…and draw on her. Easy enough. I __**know **__she's a DEEP sleeper. Snore's loudly enough to prove it too._

Aly was talking to Riley and then loudly said she was going to sleep when Kristen entered the room. _Thanks for making this even easier Aly._ Lily came out of the bathroom and the other two decided they were tired too and were going to sleep. They pulled the covers over themselves and drifted off. Kristen however, decided while she waited for them to fall asleep she would think.

_So happy to be back. Not that James' house was bad or anything, Hogwarts is just more…like my home. More people to hang out with too. _Her thoughts turned to the arrival and the feast, and then to Alex. Kristen couldn't stop a slight smile. _Funny how Sirius thinks he's so annoying…I bet if I asked Alex he'd say Sirius was annoying. Guys. _

Aly's snores filled the room. _It's time for revenge._ Kristen uncapped the _Sharpie_, took out the hair dye and crept over to Aly's bed; farthest from the door. Drawing the curtains silently, she sprayed Aly's hair thoroughly. When she was done with the front, she drew a moustache, unibrow and beard. _Hehehe. Suddenly she's a whole lot uglier. Never thought that was possible._ Aly shifted, and rolled over with a moan. _The frickkkk? Oh well. Then I get to do the back of her hair._ Kristen sprayed Aly's limp brunette hair thoroughly.

_That's it. Now, the Dungbomb and the itch powder. Where's her robes? Oh I see._

She walked over to Aly's drawer and sprinkled the powder among the clothes. _Psh. She has shimmery powder too. That'll blend with the itch powder nicely…_ Kristen layered the powders on the clothes and satisfied, went down to the dormitory and put the itch powder next to the fire. _The evidence is hidden. Let's see what'll happen tomorrow. _

--

The next morning, Kristen woke up earlier and went into the bathroom. Brushing her teeth, she contemplated the night's events. _I bet Aly will spaz…I'd heard her and Riley talking about colors and she was like, 'Green is the ugliest color ever!' Hah._

She pulled on her robes and went down the stairs and into the guys' dorm. Surprisingly, they were up. Except for Sirius.

"Hey Kristen, the prank done?" Remus asked, stuffing his foot in his shoe.

"Yeah. I better hurry and go down to the Great Hall soon…"

James grinned. "Excellent," he said and whacked Sirius with a book.

"AUGH-WHAT THE-JAMES!"

James just smiled and ran out the door. Sirius followed him, running down the stairs.

_Great way to start the term…and Sirius is only wearing boxers._

Kristen went after them, just in time to see several girls tackle Sirius. She snorted, seeing James grinning proudly next to the portrait hole.

"Nice. Let's hurry and run before he gets them off," Kristen's lips curved into a smile.

James dragged her off into the Great Hall, away from the doors as much as possible and made themselves look small.

He slumped down in his chair and surreptitiously reached for some bacon when Sirius barged in wild-eyed and tackled James. Holding back a snort, Kristen thought, _And so begins our first day back._

--

A scream filled the Great Hall.

"Shi—here she comes MERLIN hide!" Sirius dove under the table.

Aly stomped in with wild green hair, a moustache and reeking of dung as she scratched furiously at her robes.

"WHERE IS SHE?!?!" she shrieked.

Professor McGonagall rushed forward. "Ms. Gilmore-!"

"WHAT!!? DEAR FUCKING MERLIN WHERE IS SHE!?"

"WHERE is WHO!?" the professor shrieked back.

"KRISTEN CHANG THAT'S WHO!!"

"MS. CHANG!"

But by then, Kristen had dragged James out and Sirius had followed. Now, they were in a broom closet laughing silently so that they couldn't even breathe.

"Shu…t..up…before…they…find…us…" James choked out gasping for breath.

Kristen was shaking with laughter silently, squashed against Sirius.

"Wow Kristen you did a really good job," he said after he forced himself to stop thinking about the sight of a green-haired Aly.

"Haha thanks," she calmed down.

James peeked out of the keyhole and jumped out, into the first class of the year.

--

"PROFESSOR I KNOW SHE DID IT! I JUST KNOW IT!"

Professor McGonagall rubbed her temples and said, "Do you have any evidence?"

"NO…but…"

"Then she did not do it. Innocent until proven guilty Ms. Gilmore."

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

"It isn't? To accuse someone you need evidence, which you lack. If you DID have evidence, however, that is a different story."

--

Afterwards, in the common room where Kristen, Sirius and James were talking, Remus and Peter arrived. They chatted for a bit, until Aly stomped in.

"CHANG I KNOW IT WAS YOU!"

Kristen turned around. "What?" she asked calmly.

Her eyes blazed. "You know what!"

"I was wondering why you decided to dye your hair Slytherin colors. A boyfriend perhaps?"

"Fuck off. I know you did it."

"Did what?"

"THIS!" Aly gestured wildly at her hair and face.

Kristen shrugged. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

Aly narrowed her eyes and slapped her.

Kristen widened her eyes and punched Aly hard in the stomach, bringing her to the ground.

Sirius took out his wand and hexed Aly just for the heck of it. She screamed when she felt horns sprout from her hair.

"WHO DID THAT-!?" she screamed again, sporting a darkening bruise on her arm while clawing at Kristen.

Kristen snorted and shoved her into a sixth-year. By now, a large crowd had gathered, watching as Aly mumbled a fast apology to the guy. When she launched herself at Kristen, Professor McGonagall appeared.

"WHAT is GOING ON!?

--

They both got a detention, nothing that Kristen really cared about. All she cared about was the Quidditch tryouts on Sunday. James and Sirius had been talking about it nonstop, and Kristen was desperately hoping she'd make the team. Maybe.

--

It was the first Sunday of term and everyone in Gryffindor was crowding onto the pitch; either watching the Quidditch tryouts or hoping to make the team.

James walked forward nervously, among around twenty other Gryffindors trying out for Seeker. The original seeker, Marvin Bates, was smiling arrogantly at James. His smirk told James he clearly expected to be reinstated on the team without any difficulty. _Hmph. Well I'll give him something to remember._

"OK JAMES POTTER!" The captain, chaser Ted Johnson yelled. There'd been a several whiny duds already.

James felt himself almost start sweating but played it cool. James Potter would not suffer a nervous breakdown. He mounted his broom and Ted released the Snitch. James waited for thirty seconds before going after it, the tiny golden speck hiding in the goal posts.

Zooming after it, he desperately urged his broom to speed up, and reaching out wildly he caught the golden ball.

--

Kristen watched James catch the Snitch before she heard someone call her name.

"Ok, um, Kristen Chang right?" Ted Johnson asked.

"Yeah that's me."

"Ok, try and score through the hoops. I already have Alex Woods as Keeper, we'll see how you two do."

"Ok."

She mounted her broom and flew off with the Quaffle and chucked it at a hoop.

As she did so, she felt something coming and dove under as a Bludger went flying and Sirius following it.

"Holy shi-!" she gasped and flew back up.

He grinned at her and said, "You owe me one!"

"Yeah, thanks for saving my ass!"

Alex threw the Quaffle back and said, "Didn't make that one!"

"Aw, ok."

She leaned forward and feigned a throw at the left hoop before changing direction and throwing it through the right one. Alex made a grab for that, but missed by a bit.

Things continued for 10 tries, and then Ted called her back down.

"Thanks for trying out, the results will be posted tomorrow on the board in the common room," he told her.

She nodded and went back to the Entrance Hall, where James and Sirius were waiting.

"Did he say anything?" Sirius asked quickly.

"The results will be posted tomorrow in the common room. Otherwise, not really anything."

"I hope we make it." James remarked.

"Yeah, me too."

--

**How was that?? Pretty long. Please R&R!!!!**

**Review response:**

**Harrypotterrfan318: thanks!! Glad you like it : )**


	15. The Hopes and Dreams

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

**I'll be gone on vacation from December 7th to the 27th, so this is the last update. Please review! Think of this as my Christmas present to you all.**

**(This chapter dedicated to The Littlest Weasel, the only reviewer again)**

--

Ted looked over the piece of parchment wearily, trying to decide who'd be better.

_I already have Arthur Weasley as a Beater, and Alex Woods as Keeper. Potter was pretty good…but I think he caught the Snitch out of luck. So I need a Seeker and two more Chasers. Not that many tried out for Seeker this year…it's always a hard position to play. So Marvin…caught it in eight minutes. James caught it in nine minutes but…he nearly got hit by a Bludger. That's not fair; I'll take off a minute for that. Marvin…is quite annoying to say the least. But I think James…James will be Seeker. _He wrote James Potter down on his parchment. _I hope I'm making the right choice. Now, Ashley Spinnet scored nine out of ten…now there's an attractive girl. She'll make the team. Need one more Beater, and another Chaser. Hm that Chang girl was pretty good too. Eight out of ten isn't bad. Better then the other's who tried out anyways. _He wrote both Ashley and Kristen's names down. _Now for Beater…I found out not a lot of people wanted to be Beater this year. Maybe 15 people tried out…standouts are…Paul Macmillan…although he is shrimpy…that Sirius Black kid and Ashley's brother, Steven. Though Steven is involved with a bunch of things…Paul, he could be our Beater. Sirius Black…I'll see if he can play against Slytherins. Otherwise he's our reserve. _Ted wrote Paul's name down. _This team is rather chancy…not a solid team yet. We'll see after the first couple of practices._ Rolling up the parchment, he went down the staircase and tacked up the parchment. He looked over it critically before shrugging and ascending the stairs.

--

Kristen jumped out of bed and dashed down the stairs to check on the bulletin board. Scanning it she almost had a heart attack as she saw her name and James' written. _OH MY FUCKING…MERLIN! Wait, where's Siriu-oh…Reserve. I feel so bad. This...is just another disappointment for him. I guess I better go tell them._

**(Team as follows)**

**Arthur Weasley-beater[3****rd**** year**

**Paul Macmillan-Beater[3****rd**** year**

**James Potter-Seeker [2****nd**** year**

**Kristen Chang-Chaser [2****nd**** year**

**Ted Johnson-Chaser [5****th**** year**

**Ashley Spinnet-Chaser [4****th**** year'**

**Alex Wood-Keeper [2****nd**** year**

**RESERVES**

**Steven Spinnet/Sirius Black-Beater**

**Jessica Ferrez-Keeper**

**Tyler Robbins-Chaser**

**Olivia Patsaz- Chaser**

**--**

She lightly stepped up the staircase and pushed their door open. _Weird, Sirius is up._ Kristen walked over to him silently.

"Did you see the team already?" he asked her hopefully, a sparkle in his eye.

"…Yeah."

"Did we make it?"

"I…Me and James did."

"Hey congrats! But-wait, what about me?" he asked her, his eyes losing confidence.

"I'm sorry…Sirius you're on reserve."

He couldn't hide his disappointment. "Ah well. At least we might be able to play together."

Kristen smiled comfortingly at him and waited for the other three to wake up.

--

"What? What's this..._puberty_ class!?" James dropped his schedule into his bowl of cereal.

"Oh shit we have that too," Kristen scanned her own schedule and glanced at Lily's.

Sirius choked on his eggs. "What!?"

No one got a chance to reply before Professor McGonagall ushered the second year girls into one room and Slughorn and the boys into another.

Kristen slid as low in her seat as possible. Lily and Riley watched McGonagall apprehensively.

McGonagall cleared her throat nervously. "You are now approaching ah, the age of puberty. Therefore, I, and Madam Pomfrey will be teaching you of it and the many symptoms."

Now it was Lily and Riley's turn to duck low.

McGonagall continued, "Puberty is another step into becoming a woman. It is a sign you are physically capable and are ready to become pregnant…"

She and Madam Pomfrey went on to explain in explicit detail everything from periods to sex to childbirth. By the time they were finished, almost all the girls were red and the bell rang again.

McGonagall looked at the clock on the wall and said, "Well, we are done here. Time for lunch!"

She ushered everyone out and back into the Great Hall.

"Does she expect us to _eat_ after that!? I think I'll lose ten pounds not eating for a couple of weeks at least," Kristen mimed barfing as soon as they were out of earshot.

James and Sirius were already sitting at their usual spot at the table, looking just the slightest bit green. They were playing with their food.

"Definetly not hungry…" Remus muttered.

"Yeah. Now that I think on it, I feel bad for girls. Having to go through periods and childbirth…" James said very quietly but loud enough so that Kristen heard him.

She smacked him.

"HEY what was that for!?" James rubbed his shoulder ruefully.

"You know why," Kristen glared playfully at him.

"Testicle, testicle, testicle," Sirius teased.

"Sirius!"

"Hey how come you slapped me but not him?" James asked, pouting.

"Cause you were talking about _us_ and he was talking about youguys," she grinned.

Sirius smirked at James. "Maybe its cause everyone knows all the ladies like me more than you Jamesy," he attempted to flex his muscles.

Lily choked and had to be pounded on the back by Riley. "Say WHAT?"

Kristen tried to ignore this but burst out laughing.

Sirius assumed a hurt look. "What? You know it's true…"

"Wait a couple more years Sirius then it might be true," Kristen recovered from her laughing fit.

"At least it'll happen," he grinned at her.

"From the way things are going I'd put money down for it," Riley said from next to Remus. "Selena Whitburn and Kimberly Smith both like him."

James snorted. "Psh fine. But I don't like either of _them._ Jessica's the hot one if you ask me."

Kristen rolled her eyes. "They all like the both of you, so it doesn't really matter does it?"

"That's good to know, where'd you hear it?" Sirius asked grinning.

"From them themselves," she gave him an exasperated look that everyone knew she didn't mean.

"Awesome! That means-" he was stopped from saying anything when the bell rang and they headed to Transfiguration. When they entered, they could all see Professor McGonagall was still red from the puberty talk that morning.

"Pstt, Kristen," James whispered to her. She turned her head slightly.

"Yeah?" she asked out of the corner of her mouth.

"McGonagall is still red from the morning!"

"James Potter do you want to get slapped again?" Kristen hissed, turning around completely.

"Mr. Potter please stop distracting Ms. Chang this instant!" McGonagall barked out.

He grinned. "Sorry Minnie. Or do you want me to call you Minerva? And by the way, do you know how to get rid of a red face?"

The class snorted. Kristen scooted her chair back slightly, so that she was sitting diagonal from James.

McGonagall turned even redder. "Detention tonight Potter!"

He smiled like a clown. "I'll see you there!"

Sirius snorted loudly, barely resisting the urge to laugh.

The professor glared at them and breathed out deeply, her nostrils flaring as she returned to the front of the class.

"Now, we will be learning how to transform buttons into thimbles…"

Class droned on and on, until Kristen was staring at the clock, willing it to go faster. The day was already almost over; two more classes would do it.

Sirius and James seemed to be having a sort of contest in seeing who could make McGonagall crack first. _I feel sorry for the poor woman,_ Kristen thought as the stern woman rubbed her temples and told both of them to see her after class. _It's one thing to have James and Sirius in the same class, but another thing entirely to have them hyper. Oh shit, did Sirius eat sugar this morning? Or—damn. He's eating sugar quills! BOTH OF THEM ARE!!!_

James grinned and broke off a piece of the candy quietly and popped it into his mouth. Sirius gave McGonagall a devilish look as he sucked on his, the sugar dissolving into his bloodstream.

Kristen winced and dashed out the door as soon as the bell rang, running to History of Magic. Lily and Riley followed, asking, "Why are we running?"

"Because…They're eating sugar! Remember last time??"

"Oh crap!" _Lily never swears. Even in the worst situation. It was always like, 'shoot', 'crap' and 'dang it'. I wonder why…maybe her parents?_

Remus and Peter ran into the room wild-eyed with Sirius and James chasing them.

"Class, settle down," the ghost teacher droned.

Sirius stuck his tongue out and plopped down next to Kristen, who twitched an inch away.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Oh good I thought you were on sugar again," she responded and moved back to where she was sitting.

He smiled. "Nope, not sugar high _yet._ That was only one sugar quill," he said before producing a bag of sherbet balls. "I got all this to eat."

--

"Holy. Shit," was all they could say as they watched him devour…let's just say, _a lot_ of candy. James stared and said something about Sirius being a beast.

"Hey man being a beast is cool!" Sirius said indignantly after swallowing another candy.

"I didn't say it wasn't…but maybe being a beast for eating so much candy makes you get FAT!" James smiled angelically.

"YEAH WELL…I'M NOT FAT! Am I?" he asked Kristen tearfully and yet with a spark in his eyes.

"…That depends on the perspective of the individual," Kristen said quickly, looking up at him laughingly.

Everyone snorted and Sirius pouted.

Kristen just smiled and finished off her Transfiguration homework.

--

Ted Johnson explained their strategy for the game, just a month away.

"Ok, so the Chasers, us, weave between the Slytherins. They go for strength and brutality…so we'll just go in for strategy. The trick is to confuse them, and pass the ball around really fast. When we get close enough to the posts then the closest one will win. And remember, throw _really _hard. If they catch it at least it'll bruise them," he told them with a devious grin.

Kristen could only smile widely painfully and follow everyone else out to practice.

"Kristen!" Ashley yelled as she threw the Quaffle a little bit short of the other Chaser. Kristen whipped her head around and dove, barely catching it and throwing it hard into the other goal.

"Sorry!!" Ashley flew to her side. "Great catch though!"

Kristen chuckled and said wryly, "I almost dropped it though."

"Oh, well better than Ted. Did you hear last year, he completely missed it and the other team chucked it at his head?"

Kristen giggled and Ted flew over. "Great practice you guys! What do you say we clean up early and head back to the castle?" he asked, completely oblivious.

"Yeah sure," Ashley kept a straight face as they landed and went back up to the castle.

--

**Hey all! Finally, sorry it took so long. Tried to end it at a good place, but had to drag it on :D. Please review!**

**Review Response:**

**The Littlest Weasel: Thanks! Yeah after reading your review I did decide it would be really crazy…poor Sirius. **


	16. Truth or Dare

**Thanks for the reviews!!! Made my Christmas!!**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize isn't mine.**

**--**

Sirius poked Kristen again to get her attention.

"What??" Kristen turned to him, forcing James to cut off quickly. "Sorry James."

"Can I see your Transfiguration homework??" Sirius asked her innocently. "Pretty please?"

"Sirius can't you just do your own…you're better than I am at it!"

He widened his eyes. "Please?"

"Ahh fine," she fished out her homework and gave it to him.

"Merlin thanks you!" he dashed off to copy it.

"You know that is so not fair. How come he gets it?!" James whined, smiling all the way through.

"Ahaha well maybe you should try asking. Anyways, why do you guys need help! If anyone needs help it's me…Transfiguration is hard!"

"Ehh not really. It's just the hand movements and everything. See…"

After awhile she threw up her hands. "See!!!! I'm frickin hopeless at this!"

James laughed. "Yes, yes we know that. Hey, could you help me with something?"

"Yeah su-wait what?"

"Umm, I'm going to ask out Jessica Munroe…so umm, help me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure. Let's get back up to privacy…"

They went up the stairs and into the guy's room, where they found the other three doing homework.

"Ok, so you want to ask Jessica out." Kristen stated just to get it clear.

"Yeah. Any tips?"

"Yeah…buy her chocolate and sign a card with your initials, and owl it to her at like breakfast. Then um, write her a poem and sign it with your initials again, and like slip it into her bag after lunch or something. Then before dinner you can ask her out and she'll definetly say yes."

"Whoa…how'd you know all that?" Sirius asked, awed.

"Charles," was her simple reply. "You wouldn't _believe_ how many girls liked him."

Sirius grinned. "Well you wouldn't _believe_ how many girls like _me_."

Kristen rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Completely. Casanova," she muttered under her breath.

"Just help me write this poem would you two?!" James shouted from the other side of the room.

--

Lily couldn't help staring at the back of James' head during breakfast. It's not like she could stop, he was just so _addicting._ Maybe it was the way he smiled at her, or how his hair stuck up so cutely, or maybe because he could make her laugh. A lot.

Kristen sat down next to her, yawning and running a hand through her hair.

Lily dimly noticed Kristen's necklace, a circle of polished silver, wider at the bottom, with a circular hole in the middle.

"Like your necklace," she said absently.

Kristen smiled. "Thanks. My aunt sent it to me yesterday."

"Oh."

Kristen glanced at Lily, as if about to ask her why she was so out of it this morning, but didn't.

A loud giggle from the other end of the table made everyone look up. Jessica, Selina and Kim were reading a small card that had come off the lid of chocolates. Jessica smiled at James and he grinned back.

"So far so good?" he asked Kristen out of the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah," she murmured quietly.

Lily watched as James smiled at Jessica, not herself. Not her. Did he have any idea how depressing that was? How the one person she wanted to spend time with most was flirting with another girl, right in front of her.

The three girls across the table left, but not before Selina fluttered her eyelashes at Sirius and Jessica smiled at James.

As soon as they were gone, James turned to Kristen and asked anxiously, "That was alright right?"

"Yeah, I'll be surprised if she doesn't ask _you_ by tomorrow," Kristen answered, studying Lily.

"Wow Kristen, it worked…normally I'd ask you how and why you knew that…but castration sounds painful and that bit of advice might come in handy sometime," Sirius grinned.

Kristen rolled her eyes and dragged Lily and Riley out of the Hall.

As they left, they heard James splutter, "Like you could get a girlfriend anyways!"

To which Sirius responded, "Oh really? I bet you I'll have one by two o clock today. Yeah that's right, it's _on._"

Kristen pushed them into a deserted classroom and locked the door.

"Ok. So Lily, why do you have utter despair written across your face?" Kristen asked, watching the snowflakes fall on the grounds.

"I do? Where?" Lily tried to look surprised.

Kristen sent a, 'don't try and change the subject' glare at her. "Don't play dumb."

Riley laughed. "You do glares well Kristen," she commented dryly.

"Thanks," Kristen barely glanced up from meeting Lily's eyes.

Said person sighed, deciding to give up, she buried her face in her hands and mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What?" Riley asked, concerned.

"I said, I think I'm in love James bloody Potter."

Kristen didn't look the least surprised and walked over to the window slowly.

"Why does that not surprise me? At the very least, it'll complicate things…" she murmured quietly. It was all she said before the bell to end breakfast rang.

"We'll figure something out later," Riley said, pushing herself off a desk and taking Lily, following Kristen to Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall strode into the room minutes after they arrived and hefted a sigh as she came to a stop in front of her desk.

"Sirius Black spit out that gum at once! Ms. Whitburn, would you please pass out the mice? We will be Transfiguring the mice into turtles today. The incantation…"

Twenty minutes into the lesson Kristen almost threw the mouse at Peter.

"Ahh sorry Peter, I just can't get this damn thing!"

"Ms. Chang, language please!"

"Sorry," Kristen called back, annoyed.

Sirius laughed.

"Yeah well Mr. I-can-get-a-girl-by-2 o clock, show me how it's supposed to be done!" Kristen glared at him, and then laughed.

"Gladly," he smiled and edged closer to her.

"Ok. Wait do it for me, and I'll tell you what you're doing wrong," he said quite calmly.

She concentrated, flicking her wand and saying, "_Teiquero."_

"Well you aren't flicking your wand right; it's more of a wave, like this…"

"Hm, who would've thought Sirius makes a good teacher?" James teased, leaned back in his chair, watching them.

"Yeah…maybe of sex," Remus muttered so quietly only James heard him and blushed. "I can't believe I just said that!"

James grinned wickedly. "You have a good point there though. Hey hot shot, who's your date?" he asked Sirius, who smirked back.

"Selena!"

James almost choked. "You've already asked her?!"

"Oh yeah. 'Ey Selena!" his voice carried across the room.

Selena flipped her dark brown hair back and asked, "Yeah?"

"Go out with me?" Sirius shot his already famous grin at her.

"Black! Save your dating arrangements for outside the classroom!" Professor McGonagall's hair fell out of its tight bun.

"Five Galleons she says no," James muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Kristen laughed quietly. "Five Galleons she says yes."

"You're on Chang," James responded, a glint in his eye and they waited breathlessly for Selena's response.

"Alright," Selena answered, giggling.

"Hah! What'd I say!" Kristen laughed. Sirius pouted.

"Since when did you guys start betting on whether I'd get rejected or not?"

"Since we thought you could handle it-" James began.

"And apparently you can't," Kristen finished.

They grinned and high-fived. "Yeah!"

--

James flew forward against the wind as Paul Macmillan almost crashed into him, trying to block a Bludger.

"Sorry Potter!" he shouted and aimed the Bludger at the Slytherin captain Dorcas Flint.

James barely managed to acknowledge him before Kristen zoomed past, having taken hold of the Quaffle.

"And Chang races past the Gryffindor Seeker with the Quaffle, Potter is…doing something up there, one of the Gryffindor Beaters, Weasley, oh the Bludger hits Slytherin star Chaser Manning! Oh right back to Quaffle possession, Chang shoots-she scores! 10-0 to Gryffindor!" The announcer, a Hufflepuff 6th year, was struggling to keep up with the fast-paced game.

"Ok Slytherin possession, going for the hoops, come on-! AND WOOD SAVES IT!"

Alex pulled out of his swoop and grinned broadly. The Gryffindor House was going crazy. More than half of them had expressed doubts when they saw the team, the oldest of which was the captain. Still others had heavily criticized Ted for choosing such inexperienced players. But now they were swearing that they'd known all along that they were a good team.

"Spinnet in possession, almost gets hit by a Bludger and hands the Quaffle to Johnson, flies to the hoops and-FOUL!"

Hisses rang out from the Slytherin box as Madam Hooch scolded one of their Beaters for throwing his bat at Ted.

"Penalty to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser!" Madam Hooch bellowed, "I've never seen this before!"

The red and gold crowd below them howled with outrage. Sirius watched as Ted flew forward to take the penalty shot and scored. _Ok we're winning 20-0, they need to catch the Snitch fast, come on James!!_

Slytherin players swooped around Ashley and Kristen, who were passing the ball between them. _Augh Fuck! What the hell—_Kristen thought angrily. Ashley jerked her head quickly in Ted's direction. _Oh. Ted you better catch this._ Kristen threw it hard and fast at Ted's chest and he caught it, flying fast and furious towards the Slytherin hoops.

Ted threw it…and it was saved by the Slytherin Keeper. _Damn. Ah well…he tried._ Above one of the Slytherin Beaters, James was scanning the field for the golden flash that was the Snitch. A blur of green flew at him and he rolled over, trying to get back on his broom.

_Bloody hell what is James fucking doing?! _Kristen ducked as a Bludger zoomed past._Sorry mate can't help you right now. Slytherin is actually good._ Arthur Weasley hit a Bludger at Dorcas Flint, who dove and scored.

"Damn!" Kristen said aloud. "Come on James!"

"-20-10 to Slytherin!"

He'd managed to get back on his broom and gave her a mock salute before diving off after the Slytherin Seeker.

Up near the Gryffindor hoops all of the Slytherin Chasers and two of the Gryffindor ones were slamming into each other to get the Quaffle. Paul beat one of the Bludgers into a burly Slytherin's back. With a grunt, the guy fell off and into the sand below.

"Macmillan slams a Bludger into Fonte's back and he falls off his broom and into the dirt! Spinnet seizes the Quaffle and throws it to Chang who passes it to Johnson-ok back to Spinnet who puts it through the hoop! 30-10 to Gryffindor! Oh look everyone, Macmillan is off his broom and-ouch! Hits the stands!"

James barely heard all of this. He'd seen the Snitch hovering near the Ravenclaw box and was now concentrating on getting there fast enough without the Slytherin Seeker, who was closer, see. _Almost there! After we win this we need to pull a celebratory prank. And a party…_ he urged his broom to go faster, feeling the other Seeker on his trail. Stretching out his hand he grabbed a wing of the Snitch and closed his fist over it.

"And new Gryffindor Seeker James Potter catches the Golden Snitch! 180-10 Gryffindor!"

The two teams touched down and Madam Hooch made them shake hands again. The Slytherins were furious by their loss and obviously planned to get their revenge, judging by the glint in their eyes. Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Riley ran out to congratulate them on an awesome first game. Paul was being carried out by magic, Madam Pomfrey shaking her head.

"Sweet! You guys won your first game! Does that mean extra candy for me, for being a good little cheerleader?" Sirius asked innocently.

They all laughed, but before anyone could answer, Kristen did. "Being a _good_ cheerleader involved sleeping with the entire sports team so uh…"

Remus smacked her lightly. "Kristen! They've corrupted you too?!"

She grinned sheepishly. "They rub off on you!"

"_THEY_ are still here!" James and Sirius said indignantly.

"Eh…James we better go to the hospital wing, Ted'll freak if we don't," Kristen saved herself. "After we change."

After the six of them waited while Kristen and James finished, they headed up to the dormitory.

"Hey catch up with you guys later?" Kristen asked, parting ways.

"Yeah, we'll be near the butterbeer!" Riley grinned and led the way into the common room.

James asked, "How do you fall off your broom and hit the stands?"

Kristen shrugged. "Must be a family thing," she joked.

"So you must mean my father has my same amazingly good looks, if things are 'family things'?" James ruffled his hair.

Kristen shook her head and sighed. "And who taught _you_ modesty hm?"

"No one!" James laughed as they reached the hospital wing.

Ted rushed over to them. "Ah, Potter, Chang. Paul has…ah, hit his head. So he doesn't really remember us and Quidditch. And Ashley says since it's Steven's last year of school he's really concentrated on the N.E.W.T's, so she doesn't think he'll want to play Quidditch, what with his Head Boy duties and all. So…do you know where a Sirius Black is?"

James' eyes glinted. "Yeah. You want us to tell him he's Beater now?"

Ted grinned. "Yeah, and tell him our practice times would you?"

"M'kay."

Ted turned to Kristen and whispered, 'Keep them in line would you? I don't want them in detention."

She smirked and saluted him. "Sure thing Captain."

--

When they got back to the common room, a full on party was waiting for them.

"Dude! Try some butterbeer-glad you got back fast!" Sirius pulled them to where the rest were.

"Oh yeah Sirius Ted wants you to go to practice Monday, Wednesday and Thursday!" Kristen yelled into his ear.

"For watching or am I on the team?" he shouted back.

"Yeah no brooms your just watching our tactics!" she shot him an exasperated look, "Of course you're on the team!"

"YES!!!" he picked her up and twirled her around. "I'M ON THE TEAM!"

"OI mate you're gonna like, drop her into the fire!" James said, coming to Kristen's rescue.

"Hey, why am _I_ the punching bag now?" she teased.

"Don't feel bad, James is too," Remus smiled. "Do you guys want to go up to the room? It's kinda…crowded here…"

"Yeah really," Riley added.

They made they're way up the staircase and edged into the guy's dorm.

"So what are we going to do in here?" Remus inquired.

Sirius laughed maniacally. "Truth or dare!"

"Yeah, the first dare is, 'I dare you to play with Sirius'," Riley said dryly.

"Yes! I intimidate!" said person cried out in triumph.

"Ok now I want to play. But nothing leaves this room, and nothing exceedingly vulgar ok? We're not _that age_ yet. Maybe next year," Lily smiled.

Sirius and James pouted. "Aw fine Lils," James said. "Can I start?"

Everyone nodded. "Ok, DARE!'

Kristen grinned wickedly. "Go into the common room with only your boxers on and sing the Hogwarts school song!"

--

**ooh will he do it? Ahaha. Long chapter for you guys!! Please review!!!**

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	17. The Lake

**Thanks for the great reviews!!!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**--**

James grinned and stripped off his robes, tie, shirt and pants.

"This will be good," Sirius laughed silently as they crept onto the staircase, watching as James made his way down.

He started singing, bellowing out,

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald,_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with some filling, _

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

Someone in the room wolf-whistled, setting off loud clapping, and James grinned, and bowed a couple times before heading back up the stairs.

"Damn you _did_ do it!" Kristen grinned. "I just hope Lily will use a bottle to spin the next person, because knowing you it'd be extremely embarrassing," she laughed.

James smirked wickedly. "Yes…yes…" he pulled his clothes back on.

Lily scrabbled around for a butterbeer bottle and finally found one.

"Ok to make it fair this time, we're going to use a bottle to spin. I'll spin it…"

She spun and it landed on Remus who moaned. "Damnnnn…."

"Truth or Dare dear Remus?" Sirius asked, rubbing his hands together.

Kristen whispered, "Choose truth…."

"Kristen!" Sirius pretended to be hurt. "Don't _tell_ him!"

She smiled sweetly. "Sorry."

"Truth," Remus said, waiting apprehensively.

It started a bunch of whispering amongst James and Sirius.

"What, what?" Riley asked, edging closer.

James finally said, "Where have you been going on the full moons?"

Remus answered without missing a beat, "Oh, my mother and father. They've always been prone to sickness but now since it's getting chillier they're pretty bad," he tried to look morose.

"Oh." The duo didn't look convinced but stuck to it.

Lily spun the bottle and it landed on Kristen, who said, "Crap."

James grinned. "So, Kristy, truth or dare?"

"Don't call me Kristy!! And um…truth…" she said, defeated.

The rest of the 2nd years clumped together and whispered.

Riley shook her head. "No…that's so…"

Then Remus said, "Well none of it would get out anyways…"

"Just ask me already!" Kristen said irritably.

"Alright. Do you like Wood?" James said, grinning.

"Merlin no I don't!" Kristen could have laughed. They were being so skittish over _that_?

"Alright. Spin it, Lils," Remus said, studying her.

Lily spun it. It landed on Sirius. He smirked. "Dare. Hit me with it!"

Kristen scooted closer to James, listening as he muttered, "Make him go around singing love sonnets to Snape!"

"James that's so mean!" Lily said indignantly. "Snape hasn't done anything to you!"

"Yeah…except hate me!"

"Just…don't do that one," Remus said, trying to ward off a potential fight.

"Well does anyone have anything better?"

"Jump in the lake!" Peter laughed.

"Hell yeah! Brilliant Pete!" James' eyes glittered.

"Ok Sirius you have to jump into the lake tomorrow!"

Sirius' eyes widened. "But I SWEAR I already took a bath last week!" he joked.

"Oh, that accounts for the smell!" Riley teased.

"Yes, yes it does," James laughed.

"Ok whose next?" Sirius said, for once eager to get the spotlight off him.

Lily spun it and it landed on herself. "Man. Truth."

"Ok I got this," James said. "Who do you like?"

"I don't like anyone," Lily answered, looking him straight in the eye.

_Wow Lily who would've thought you could lie extremely well?_

"Alright," James said, slightly disappointed. Riley spun the bottle and it landed on Peter.

"Truth," Peter squeaked out.

"Hm. Would you ask out Aly?" Remus asked.

"No," Peter answered.

"Oh. Ok," James spun it and it landed on Kristen.

"Dare," Kristen said apprehensively.

This drew a lot of whispering. _Thank Merlin Lily and Remus are here. They'll stop them from too dramatic stuff…I hope._

Finally they agreed on something.

"Hm….dye your hair pink for a day," James and Sirius said together, knowing it was her least favorite color.

"Goddamn! I _KNEW_ I should've picked truth!" Kristen flicked her wand and her dark hair turned a bright, shocking pink. "This clashes," she said, looking herself over in the mirror. _Thank god it's a Saturday._

After that, they decided to get some sleep. The girls went back up to their dormitories and, taking turns using the bathroom, fell asleep.

--

The first thing James said when Kristen woke him up was, "Sirius has to jump in the lake today."

Kristen giggled, pushing her hair back from her face. "Yes, yes he does. I have to wake him up though, unless you would like to do the honors?"

James got an odd look in his eye, the look he got when he was planning something. "I'll do it."

He waved his wand causing Sirius to be lifted out of bed and held by his feet.

"OI MATE CAN'T A MAN GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE?!" Sirius shouted, none too kindly.

"NO! CAUSE YOU NEED TO JUMP IN THE LAKE!!!" James whacked him playfully with a pillow. "Hurry up!"

They left to get down to the Great Hall. Lily and Riley also came down, rubbing sleep from their eyes. Bacon was being rapidly devoured when Aly stalked over to their area with Selena, Jessica and Kimberly following.

"So. What have you done to Sirius, rape him?" Aly spat out. "Just so you know, he hates ugly girls like you."

Kristen's eyes flashed and she was about to reply when James snarled, "Get _your _ugly face out of here Gilmore. You're so disgusting it's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend yet. Merlin, I bet your mom didn't even want to get pregnant. I wonder why--look how you turned out!"

"JAMIE!!!" Jessica cried out while Selina glared at her nastily and said, "Keep your boyfriend under control Jess!"

James glared at Jessica and said, "I don't give a shit what you say, it's over!"

Jessica stared in shock and started to bawl as she ran out of the room. The other three stood their ground.

"You think you're so good Potter don't you!" Kimberly hissed.

"All I know is I'm better than you'll ever be!" James stood up.

Selena was about to say something but Kristen cut her off. "Get out of here. You're so stupid-can't you see no one wants you here? Hell I bet you'd get dumped too! Just stick around!" she stood up as well.

Right on cue Sirius burst into the Hall, looking surprised at the standoff before him.

"Sirius!!" Selena dragged him to her side. "Tell James that he should stop being friends with Kristen!!"

"What the hell, why?" Sirius asked, giving her an annoyed look. "What're you talking about?"

"Please say it!" she whined.

"Hell no!"

Selena pouted and said, "Or I'll break up with you!"

"Then fine! It's OVER!" Sirius glared at her.

She seemed shocked, and then ran from breakfast screaming. With a last hateful glare, Aly stalked from the table with Kim tailing. All of the Houses were staring, so the group just left, going back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey…thanks," Kristen murmured to James, pulling him into a quick hug. He smiled crookedly.

"Would've done the same for any of them," he said, nodding at the rest of the group.

Kristen smiled and tapped Sirius on the shoulder.

"Thanks," she said, hugging him as well.

He grinned. "Yeah…no problem."

"And you still have to jump in the lake," Kristen teased.

"Aw fine. D'you want to go now?" he asked the group.

"Yes! We finally get to see Sirius jump in the lake!" Riley grinned.

Sirius feigned taking off a top hat and sweeping it. "Of course! Methinks there is nothing else except to please the ladies," he winked roguishly.

Lily feigned shuddering before they redirected their path to the lake, seeing a huge tentacle lazily raise itself.

"Alright man, anytime your ready," James smirked.

Sirius just grinned and stripped off his robes, shirt, pants and tie until he was only in his boxers. And jumped.

He jumped farther in than he had intended, almost halfway to the middle.

James and Remus were starting to whoop when he resurfaced with a yell, held up by a tentacle.

"Merlin are you fucking serious?!" was all Kristen could say. The shocked faces on the others mirrored her reaction.

James started cracking up, until he was rocking back and forth silently. Laughter spread throughout the group.

Meanwhile, the tentacle dropped Sirius near the edge of the water and waved menacingly, something like how McGonagall would have been if she was telling him off.

Sirius splashed his way out and waved his wand, drying himself off.

"Wow mate that was hilarious," James cracked.

Sirius grinned. "What, when it picked me up or when it was imitating McGonagall?"  
"All of it. We gotta play truth or dare more often!"

"HECK YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

--

**A/N, sorry, had to stop it there, otherwise it would've gone on FOREVER. Please review!!**

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	18. Realizations

**Thanks for the reviews and so sorry for the SLOW update!! Writer's block is NOT fun : (**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.**

**--**

Kristen let her head fall onto the desk in front of her. Professor Bins droned on and on about some foreign war or something, not noticing that half the class was asleep. The holidays were approaching, and the Quidditch team trained harder than ever, even though the last game would be in several months.

"Psst, Kristen!" Sirius poked her.

"Huh wha..."she muttered, half asleep.

"Kristen what did you write for the Potions essay?" he asked, quill and parchment ready.

"Um…moonstone, unicorns, butter and daisies," she mumbled sleepily.

"What?!"

"Just take it!"

"OK!" he shuffled around in her bag and, pulling out the essay, copied it down with a flick of his wand.

"Great, another spell aides you and your cheating ways," Remus grumbled playfully.

Sirius just grinned and rolled up his parchment as the bell rang.

James dragged Kristen out of there half-awake, leading them to lunch.

"'Ey, any idea why she's stoned?" he asked, making her sit down.

Sirius shrugged. "Gone out to meet some guy?" he teased, causing Kristen to give him a half-hearted slap.

"'Friggin Aly's moving out today—thank Merlin—so she was _packing_ yesterday," Kristen mumbled. "Kept me up the whole night."

"Ah," Remus said.

"Ah," Sirius repeated.

"Ah," James grinned.

"Ah," Peter squeaked, just for the record that they all said it.

Kristen mustered a small glare then dropped her head back on the table.

Lily and Riley laughed quietly, the dark bags under their eyes a betrayal to Kristen's statement. James and Sirius then engaged in a how-much-can-you-eat contest.

"Ugh Merlin, d'you _have_ to eat like that?" Lily asked, wrinkling her nose.

Neither of bothered to respond, shoveling sausage into their mouths as fast as they could.

Then, they got into an argument about who ate more, which lasted the rest of lunch.

Kristen jumped as soon as the bell rang for Potions.

They headed down the corridors and into the dungeons where Slughorn taught.

After class, in which Kristen fell asleep and got yelled at, they headed to Charms. Now that Kristen was sufficiently awake, they could talk.

"What d'you think of our chances in next weeks match?" James asked.

"Err…good?"

"Tch, yeah, we're definetly going to win!" Sirius grinned while jabbing his wand at the pillow they were supposed to inflate.

"Yeah I know. Wanna…scope out the competition? I heard the Slytherins are having a practice today…break out the Cloak?" James asked, grinning slyly.

"Heck YES!"

--

Two hours later, James and Sirius were stealthily slithering across the brightly lit bleachers in the Quidditch field, watching the Slytherin team from under the Invisibility Cloak. It was hot; the afternoon sun was just heating up.

The green-clad burly players zoomed around the pitch, passing each other as the balls whirled around.

"Holy shit! How many times have they practiced?" Sirius whispered, wide-eyed. _Slytherin's Quidditch team did look rather formidable_, James thought, scrutinizing the moves. _Crap._

The two of them sat and watched, hearts sinking as the practice finally ended.

"Er, well, we need to practice?" Sirius said, hair flopping into his eye again.

"Yeah. Hey, d'you want to go see if the others are up for some pranks?" James asked, grinning.

"Heck yeah! Wanna get that one kid, whats-his-face, Snape or something? The one with the bird-nose and really greasy hair?"

"Yeah he's always so into his little Dark Arts shit. We should teach him that's not good for him."

"Got any ideas?" Sirius whispered as they passed into the Great hall and ducked into a deserted corner.

"Not right now you?"

"Um…I've been workin' on this one for awhile, hex him so he starts singing that one singer, whats-her-face, Celestina Warbeck or somethin'?"

"Yeah think so. Which song?"

" 'A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Loveeeeee'," James catcalled.

"Heh, that's one thing Snape won't ever get."

"Damn straight. Hey do we have any homework? I wanna catch a date with the ladies," James grinned, messing his hair up.

"Dunno, dun' care. But as for _ladies_, there's that one Ravenclaw whose _hot._ The blonde, with the big chest?"

"Oh her. Her breath stinks."

"How would you know?!"

"She talks like she'll die if she doesn't!"

"Oh."

James grinned again, nudging Sirius. "You wanted to get her?" he smirked.

"Yeah. She's only a year older."

"So now you're stalking her?!" James answered in mock horror. "Tsk tsk. Shame Sirius, shame!"

"Aw come on, like you don't do that do Evans."

James widened his eyes innocently. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about!"

They neared the common room.

"Pater kippit," Sirius said to the portrait which swung open.

Remus, Peter and Kristen were spread over the armchairs, not exactly talking but still there.

"Hey," a small smile spread across Kristen's lips.

"'Ello," Peter mumbled.

"'Sup," James grinned.

"So, we were thinking—," Sirius began smirking.

"—That maybe Snape—," James added.

"—should get pranked on." Sirius ended.

"Er—," Remus began.

"—What are you planning—?" Kristen jumped in.

"—To prank him with?" Peter squeaked.

"Woah that was cool," James chuckled.

"We should do it again," Sirius cracked a grin.

"Or maybe not. We kind of ruined it for any future use," Remus laughed.

The darker haired boys just rolled their eyes.

"So what were you going to prank him with?"

They exchanged looks.

"Well, this is what we were thinking of…"

--

"That'll never work," Kristen stared in amazement two days later, on Sunday. Their latest plan was simply amazingly complicated.

"Shut up! Yes it will!" James whined childishly. "And here he comes so SHUSH!"

Sure enough, Snape was coming along, struggling to keep up with Professor Slughorn as he tried to have a conversation with the professor.

"Merlin that's disgusting, how he sucks up to Slughorn. And look at that snot dribbling out of his nose!" Sirius muttered disgustedly as Snape wiped away his boogies.

James shrugged. "Yo Snape!" he addressed Snape, leaving the others to follow.

Slughorn quickly said, "Oh Severus, I assume they'll want to talk to you. I'll be in my office!" he trotted off quickly.

Sirius snorted. "Even your dear teachers don't want to talk to you _Severus,_" he mocked.

"Just because you're a Black—," Snape began heatedly.

"Oh because he's a _Black_ now hmm? Of course, to you that's probably as close to Merlin as it gets," James said scathingly.

"Potter, I'm warning you—," Snape flushed.

"Ooh you have warnings too? Wipe the _snivel_ off your face _Severus,"_ Sirius jibed.

"I DON'T HAVE SNIVEL ON MY FACE!"

"Nah, I'd like to think it IS your face," James said cruelly.

"How would you like that? Snivelly Snape…maybe that'll replace '_Severus_'…"

"DON'T CALL ME SNIVELLY! I AM SEVERUS SNAPE!" Snape's eyes bulged.

"Come on Sirius," James said mock sweetly. "Let's not call him Snivelly. How about…_Snivellus._"

Sirius snickered. "Does that fill your criteria _prince?_"

Snape didn't bother responding, drawing his wand and was halfway through a hex when Kristen flicked her wand to deflect it, annoyed. _Merlin they're so…stupid! God and pigheaded. Can't they just stop?_

"Good call," Remus muttered, seeing James jinx Snape.

"Yeah. Too bad it wasn't better…I might've stopped them."

"No one can stop those two when they get going," Peter said unexpectedly.

"Wise words," Kristen answered dryly.

By now Snape was panting on the group, hives popping up everywhere.

"Wash his hair out…Merlin knows he needs it," James muttered sadistically.

Sirius laughed and waved his wand, bubbles appeared and grew larger in Snape's hair.

"Where do they learn this shit?" Kristen asked Remus, seriously sick.

He looked uneasy as well. "Er…well…"

"Yeah. Catch you later," Kristen walked off, back stiff.

Sirius noticed her leave through the corner of his eye, then dismissed it and went back to cursing Snivelly.

—_Switch to Snape's view—_

Potter was about to hex me again, I could tell. That Chang girl had left, with something like disapproval hovering around her. Maybe she didn't like seeing her _friends_ hex random people, or maybe she had something better to do. I wouldn't know. Then Black, that blood traitor…how much I would give to be in his family!—seemed to deflate. Hah. Of course; with his little girlfriend gone he didn't have an audience.

Then Lupin grabbed Potter's arm and muttered something to him. Something, that made Potter stop and say something to Black. It made them go away, that's all I know.

Makes me wonder…does that mean Lupin was alright? Maybe even the Chang girl?

Who knows. All I do know is that Lupin saved me from more humiliation. Did I mention this was in the Great Hall, outside of breakfast? Merlin knows how no teachers turned up, but students were aplenty. That day…I started hating Potter and Black even more. As for the other three…I wouldn't meet them enough to find out.

--

Kristen was stalking back to the Gryffindor common room, turning over the events in her mind. _Wasn't it only supposed to be a prank? Not like, a full-blown humiliation? God what's gotten into James and Sirius? I know Snape isn't like, the best of people but still!_

Lily and Riley were chatting in the dormitory, about the charms homework.

"Hey Kristen! Where were you?" Riley asked, a smile lifting her lips.

Kristen shrugged. "Dunno. James and Sirius were practically torturing Snape so I came back," disapproval rang heavily through her voice.

Lily furrowed her brow. "But he hasn't done anything to them!"

"Yeah I know, so I left."

The red-haired girl sighed, picking absently at her nails. "That's…mean. Jerk like."

"Tell me about it," Riley snorted. "So out of nowhere they decided to start tormenting Snape?"

"Might have something to do with this Saturday's game but yeah basically."

"Guys are retarded," Lily sighed.

Kristen shrugged. "You get used to it," she said so matter-of-factly that both of the other two girls burst out laughing.

"What?" Kristen asked, perplexed.

"Nothin'," they chorused.

Right.

--

**SO sorry for the late update!! Shame shame! So, tell me what you think! Please review!**

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**P.R.M.A.S.: Lol sorry about not making the fight clear, I threw that in rather fast. Glad you liked the ending! I was on a bit of a sugar high :D. **


	19. Funeral De La Grape

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

Chapter 19 

The match was in ten minutes. Classes had gone by sluggishly for the whole week; so anticipated was the game. Ted and Ashley were talking to each other in low voices, so low that Kristen couldn't hear them barely three feet away. Next to her, Sirius and James were deathly silent.

"What the fuck, you look like you're at a funeral!" Kristen grinned, trying to make them less nervous. 

James still looked deathly pale. "I think I'm going to be sick…"

Sirius managed to chuckled. "Hey mate this is my first game and your what, like third?"

James almost shuddered. "Yeah but still, the anticipation and pressure of everyone, the expectations and—OH MY FUCKING MERLIN IF WE LOSE IM GONNA DIE!"

"Spaz," Kristen muttered. 'Sirius you should calm him down, we have like two minutes before the match starts."

Which is what Sirius attempted to do. But soon, Ted led them out of the locker rooms and on to face the Slytherin team. And then, Sirius started freaking out.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Madam Hooch looked over at her. "Is there something wrong Ms. Chang?"

Kristen smiled sweetly back. "No, not at all."

"Alright then. Let the game begin!" 

Fourteen players shot upwards. 

"Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle, and ah, nice hit by Beater Sirius Black to Montague's stomach…Gryffindor possession by Ted Johnson, neat pass to Kristen Chang, flies to the hoop—Ahhhhhh and Slytherin Keeper Madison Caudil saves it! Ok Dorcas Flint in possession, and—ouch, that look like it hurt…Slytherin Beater Manning crashes into Arthur Weasley, ok Slytherin in control of the ball—no, Gryffindor, wait no Slytherin, wait THEY DROPPED THE QUAFFLE! And…Johnson catches it, pass to Spinnet—who puts it through the hoop! 10-0 Gryffindor!"

The green and silver side of the stadium hissed with annoyance. Flint had dropped the ball—resulting in the Gryffindor goal. 

"Ah and Slytherin possession, Manning going up along the field there, Rick Smith passes to Flint—THAT'S A FOUL!" 

Dorcas Flint had thrown the Quaffle at James' head. But, knowing him, he'd probably said something insulting to provoke her. Ted flew forward to take the penalty and made it. 

"20-0 Gryffindor!"

But then the Slytherins put a goal through Alex…

The game dragged on, with neither team gaining much ground. Ted was screaming for James to hurry up and catch the Snitch—because he had a date. 

It started to rain, ice cold droplets of water pelting the players. 

_God fucking dammit James catch the goddamn fucking Snitch 'cause I fucking want to sleep GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! _Was just an example of what Kristen was thinking.

And then James went on a parallel dive to the ground, glasses sliding to the edge of his nose.

_What the fuck?_

He pulled out of the dive, twisted and pulled up. 

Dumbstruck, the other thirteen players watched as he held the Snitch up and as Madam Hooch called the score.

"DUDE! Did you see that? He just went into the dive—no warning! Sweet!"

"Oh-em-gee! Did you SEE him? And like, his hair is so cool, wait, yeah right there! Oh my god! SO HOT!" 

"Yeah, well I think that other guy, Sirius Black or something is cooler…his eyes are sexy!"

Remus heard this through the roar of euphoria in the stands.

Well, they were getting popular. 

When the team made it onto the ground, Sirius tackled James.

"JAMES! WE WON!" he squealed.

Kristen jerked her head around. "Sirius did you _squeal_?"

"Err…maybe I did BUT WHO CARES WE WON!"

"Mate she's questioning your sexuality. GUYS DON'T SQUEAL!"

"YOU JUST DID!"

--_Christmas break_—

"D'you know if Sirius is going to come over like next week or something?" Remus asked. It was the first week of the vacation. Usually Sirius came straight with them to James' house, but he had told them his parents insisted on him going home. 

"Yeah. He said that he'll meet up with us at school—'cause his parents don't want him coming over to the 'blood traitor's house," Kristen rolled her eyes.

"I never thought I'd say this…but it really is boring without him," James groaned from the floor. He'd just stuffed himself with a bag of chips.

"Yeah James it was really smart of you to eat that _thing._ I'd be surprised if you didn't gain like ten pounds," Kristen flipped a page in her book. 

"Quidditch will take it all off," he grinned.

"Hey James what are these disc things?" Remus asked from sifting through the nightstand.

"Oh those things? Some Muggle gave it to my mum couple years back…supposed to be a 'dvd' that plays 'movies'."

"What are movies?" Peter said cluelessly.

"Aren't they like…things that have acting on record?" Kristen put in.

"Yeah, only Mum never bothered to figure out how to work it."

"Let's ask your dad," Remus decided. "Where is he anyways?"

"Probably in his study."

"Ok. Coming?"

"Yeah. Hold on." James pushed himself off the ground and ran his hand through his hair.

"Ready!"

He led them downstairs and through a couple halls before finding his father.

"Hey Dad d'you know how we can watch these 'dvd' things?"

"What are the 'dvds'?"

"Oh, some Muggle woman gave them to Mum awhile ago."

"Maybe if you project it. The spell is _Bron Lumienier._"

"Ah ok. Thanks dad!"

"No problem."

They raced back upstairs, James tackling a very surprised Kristen. 

"IT MIGHT WORK! MAGIC'S AMAZING!" 

"Man, are you high on those chips? My ribs hurt," Kristen muttered under her breath. "So what're the 'dvds' about?"

"Er well," Remus mumbled the spell, "It seems this one is classic comedy."

Peter turned off the lights and the four of them watched for two and a half hours. Every few seconds, they would roar with laughter.

"Man Sirius is seriously missing out," Remus choked. 

Finally the movie ended.

Peter had fallen asleep some time over his fourth soda, and was now lying on the couch.

"Hey you two wanna play Spoons?" Kristen asked, shuffling a deck of cards.

"Sure," James replied warily. "How d'you play?"

Remus popped a grape into his mouth, having gotten them out of nowhere.

"Well, there are a certain amount of people playing, in this case three, and two items in the middle because you need one less that the amount of people. We'll use ah…quills," she grabbed two and stuck them in the middle. "Ok, everyone gets four cards and we try and get all the Jacks or all of one thing. I'll go first, then pass to you, then you pass to Remus. You can only have four cards in your had maximum, so you can trade, say, another card for one you need. Then give the unused one to Remus. Once you get the cards, take a quill from the middle. Then the other two keep playing and try to grab the quill first. Or, if you see someone take a quill then grab the other one. It's all about reflexes. Then usually if we have a lot of players, the player who doesn't have a quill loses and gets kicked out, we take away a quill. It's fun with a lot of players really."

"Err…kay, gottit. Let's start!"

Kristen did, dealing everyone four cards. She glanced at her hand. A three, King, seven and ace. Bad cards. She drew one, a four, tossed it to James and kept going. She found a seven soon and tossed out the three. Then an ace showed up; the King was tossed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a hand discreetly and quietly take a quill; she grabbed it fast.

"YES!" Remus shouted with glee. 

James swore. "AUGH! Damn this is hard. Want a grape?" he offered Kristen, who popped on into her mouth.

"Fanks."

They started another round, in which James won, Kristen lost and Remus dropped his grapes. The sugar was really working in their systems; they played till two in the morning.

"HAH! Remus, you should've seen the look on your face," tears of mirth streaming down James' face.

Remus growled, and shuffled the cars.

"So, one last round then we catch up on sleep? Ok? Huh…Kristen? Kristen?" Remus looked around and found her staring sadly at something.

"What're you looking at?" James asked.

She turned around so that they could see a round, squashed, purple thing.

"Funeral de la grape," she proclaimed sorrowfully.

James couldn't handle it and burst into laughter once again, rolling around on the floor. 

Kristen grinned. Remus rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face.

"You still gonna eat that Remus?" she asked. 

"Naaaah."

--_Back At School, a week later—_

Kristen pulled open the guy's door and walked inside because she was bored.

"KRISTEN! TEACH SIRIUS HOW TO PLAY SPOONS!" James threw a quill at her.

"AH! Ok ok! So Sirius, this is how you play…"

They successfully played spoons—every winner winning a Galleon from the other four. 

By the end of this, Sirius won twice, James four times, Remus once, Peter twice and Kristen three times.

"Damn we're all gonna be poor!" Kristen counted out the Galleons.

"We're all gamblers, through and through," Sirius grinned. "I bet we're gonna be alcoholics and druggies too."

"I'm sure you will, don't drag us down with you!" James pushed him playfully. 

"Oh yeah, did we tell you, we watched one of those 'moving pictures' that Muggles love!" Remus said happily.

"Really? How'd you do it?" Sirius asked eagerly. "Did you eat those corn things that Muggles love?"

"The ones they pop with heat?" Kristen smiled. "No…unfortunately."

"Aw. Those would've been fun to make."

"Yeah. Say, have you four had any ideas for pranks? I was thinking of making one—in time for the new year?" Today was December 24th; they'd come back to school early when Sirius said his uncle was taking him.

"Oh yeah…haven't had any ideas but Sirius, isn't your birthday on the 29th?"

"Yeah," he didn't sound too happy. "Why?"

James gave him a look, then swapped glances with the other three that clearly said, 'MEET UP LATER. PLAN SIRIUS' SURPRISE.'

Said person didn't notice. 

"When're your birthdays?" he asked.

"I'm like younger than everyone…" Kristen mumbled. "June 12."

"July 7th," James flopped across his bed.

"November 9th," Remus said with a book tented across his face.

"March 16th," Peter confided, eyes eagerly watching the other four.

"Oh. James, are you still gonna pull that prank?" Sirius asked.

"Got any ideas?"

"Yeah…..put Dungbombs under the tables at breakfast and then when they all explode make them say 'HAPPY NEW YEAR!'"

Kristen wrinkled her nose. "We'll all smell like shit though!"

James winked at her. "That, my dear Kristen, is why man made perfume."

**Ahhh! Had no idea what to put in this chapter. Lil' short, but next chapter should be longer, and skip ahead a bit. Sorry for updating so late! I basically have free rein till the later years…so…writer's block? Review please!**

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	20. The Cold War

Chapter 20

**Thanks for the reviews!!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.**

**Sorry for updating so late!!**

**--**

James was perfecting the next prank and was also planning Sirius' surprise birthday later with the other three.

"Hm, scratch the Dungbombs, how bout fireworks?" he asked Remus.

"Yeah but where are we going to get fireworks?"

James winked. "I have my sources."

"Whatever you say," Peter rolled his eyes. "We could help you know.'

"Nah," James answered. "I've got it." An owl rapped on the window. "Oh, must be mum and dad." He'd ask his cousin who worked in Diagon Alley to buy some—he'd pay him back later.

Kristen emerged from the doorway, making sure to lock it behind her.

"Ok, mission accomplished, I've locked him in a closet," she panted. She'd run all the way up from the second floor.

"Don't you think he'll break out?" Remus asked, eyeing her oddly.

She grinned deviously. "Remus I'm not that stupid. I pushed in Selena for 'company'."

James laughed. "Nice."

"Thank you."

"He'll enjoy that," Peter remarked.

"So, what are we going to do about Sirius' birthday?" Remus asked.

James shrugged. "I was thinking—maybe…conjure up a few presents and surprise him?"

"Alright, I'll find some books on that," Remus muttered. "Be back later," he left for the library.

"Yeah but isn't that too _dull_," Kristen teased him, "For James Potter?"

He had a half-smile on his face. "Yes well…ah I've got it!"

"What?" Peter asked, snacking on chips.

"Decorate the room while locking Sirius out…and then at the end of the night let him in and party!"

"Yeah ok. But isn't that too _boring _too?"

"Is that a yes?" James grinned, already scribbling down ideas while ignoring the last sentence.

"Yeah sure. What are you going to give him?"

James thought for a moment. "A giant box of condoms?" he asked innocently.

She grinned wickedly, and then slapped him lightly. "You dirty dirty man. He could go and buy those any day," she spun a 180.

"Yeah well…we'd dish out the gold?" he suggested.

Remus came back in and James relayed the suggestion. His eyes widened. "NO!! In the name of Merlin NO!! Jesus Christ next thing you know you'll be calling girls 'babe' and 'baby' and all that jazz!!"

"You should do it just to piss him off," Kristen remarked off handedly, re-reading a book.

"Kristen you aren't helping!"

"I'm sorry," she answered sagely.

"Babe, babe," James grinned, causing Remus to hold his head in his hands, sighing.

Just then, Sirius stumbled into the room, hair messed up, shirt rumpled and robes tangled.

Kristen raised an eyebrow. "Remus you forgot to lock it! And looks like someone's got a dirty little secret," she fought back a grin.

He looked so ridiculous, like someone mugged him, but it had only been Selena with him, and she knew for a fact she'd rather maul him in a very different way.

James whistled. "Been busy Sirius?"

He scowled. "Well there was nothing _else_ to do when _someone_ locked me in a _broom closet_ with _Selena_."

"Cut the bullshit, we all know you loved it," Kristen drawled, unable to resist the opportunity to bait him.

"Eh?" Peter woke up from his nap. "'Ello Sirius…hope 'ou love your 'resent," his head fell back onto the bag of chips.

"What the hell?" Sirius asked, glancing around at the room.

It was pretty neat as their room went.

"Oh nothing," Remus said innocently.

Sirius shrugged. "Whatever," he started whistling as he picked out clothes and headed into the bathroom for a shower.

"Bet he got lucky," Kristen threw her book at James to wake him up.

"Hah? Oh. Well yeah, what else would you do when you're trapped in a broom closet with only a slut to accompany you?" he bit off a chunk of chocolate, thinking of what else to do for Sirius' birthday.

Kristen gave him a dry look. "I don't suppose I could answer that, because I wouldn't ever be in that position."

"Good point there," he responded lazily. Then he bolted upright. "Say, whaddya think if we pulled the fireworks off at breakfast and shout happy birthday?"

Remus moaned. "Another detention!"

"Don't be such a pussy, it'll be worth it!" James was rubbing his hands together with glee.

Already, he could see it—the bright fireworks lighting up the area and him jumping on the table and shouting, _Happy Birthday man!_

Sirius came out of the shower, shaking his head like a dog.

"So what up?" he asked, sitting on Kristen.

She winced, saying "You, fatty. Get off me!" she unsuccessfully tried to wriggle out from under him. He stayed put.

"Fatass," she muttered good naturedly, attempting to sit up.

James grinned, scribbling a letter to his cousin on a piece of parchment. Time to set up ze plan.

--

Several hours later, James' shipment of fireworks had been delivered, and hidden under Kristen's bed in case Sirius found it in their dorm. Said guy was out with Selena again—no doubt in another closet.

"So, set off the fireworks for Sirius' birthday, got it. We should do presents now too," Remus said, compiling a checklist. "OK, James? Make your present."

James thought for a minute, before transforming a booklet on Legos into _How to Make Any Girl Fall For You—Five Easy Steps!_

Kristen snorted. "Yeah ok, wrap that in hot pink paper why don't you?"

James grinned. "Will do m'lady!"

She rolled her eyes.

While he wrapped the book, she was tapping a huge box of Honeydukes candy her aunt had given her for Christmas with her wand. Since they weren't allowed to go buy gifts, Kristen had decided to recycle her unopened one.

Remus was waving his wand and muttering something about fizzing whizbees and a box of Zonko's joke shop things he'd mysteriously come back with.

James then attempted to help Peter with his idea of a stack of new 'movey things'.

An hour went past, while they finished up and hid the presents under Kristen's bed.

"Ok, so tomorrow is Sirius' birthday, right?" Remus asked. They all nodded.

"SO, we'll have to set up the fireworks tonight, like last time. Then, when everyone's in the Hall we can wave our wands and BAM! Happy birthday Sirius!"

"Yeah ok," James checked the time. It was almost seven.

"Wanna go and eat now?" Kristen asked as her stomach rumbled.

"Yeah, and Sirius will get suspicious if we don't see him at all today, makes it seem like we're avoiding him," Peter said sensibly.

"Yeah, true," James said, already heading out the door.

When they got down to the Great Hall, Sirius was waiting, shoveling food into his mouth.

"Wre'er 'er 'uo," he mumbled through his full mouth.

"We weren't doing much, played Exploding Snap," Kristen covered.

"O," he said, while Remus struggled to keep a straight face.

"So, after classes, wanna go outside, snowball fight?" James asked casually, snagging a bit of bacon.

Sirius' eyes lit up. "Heck yeah! Add Lily and Riley, and ask someone to be referee?"

Remus volunteered himself. "I'll do it first game, then rotate?"

"Yeah alright. I'll tell Lily and Riley soon as I can," Kristen added.

Just then, a sleepy looking Lily, dragged in by Riley made her entrance.

"'ello, sup?" Riley asked, seating Lily firmly down next to James.

"Whoa, what happened to you Lillsss," James stressed the s.

"Up late…doin' homework," she yawned.

Kristen rolled her eyes, Sirius snorted. "Why'd you bother to do it?"

Remus gagged. "Why wouldn't she?" he asked after he got over his coughing fit. "What homework was it, by the way?" he turned to Lily.

"Transfiguration…so hard," she mumbled.

James chuckled. "Not so bad, pretty easily actually."

Sirius nodded in agreement. Peter nodded blankly as well, then asked, "Wait what?"

Kristen laughed lightly. The bell rang, signaling the end of breakfast.

Sirius sprang up, clapped Peter on the shoulder. "Saved by the bell Pete," he grinned.

They were headed towards Potions, when Kristen asked, "And Lily, like Potions isn't hard?" face as straight as could be.

They laughed—it was well known by now how Kristen could brew a potion—just not the right one.

When they filed into the classroom, they sat down unanimously at a cluster of desks.

The Slytherins seemed to slink out of the shadows as they took seats far away from the group.

Slughorn bustled in. "Right then!" he clapped. "Get in threes We'll be working on an advanced form of the Sleeping Draught today! Alright, no, those groups won't work. Nelson, Potter, Severus! Chang, Black, Wood! Gilmore, Whitburn, Pettigrew! Nate, Lupin, Avery. Longbottom, Smith—yes you Alice—, Nott. Oh, we've an odd number of people? Lucius, feel free to join whichever group you want. Good. Begin!! Due at the end of class!"

Sirius scowled, good thing Alex didn't see, Kristen thought wryly.

"Alright, Kristen, get the newt eyes, five is enough and put them in. Hm ok…stir once to the left and three times right…Sirius, you can help her and I'm going to ask Slughorn a question…just do up to step 6, where you have to let it simmer for awhile."

"Who made him in charge?" Sirius asked grumpily.

Kristen shrugged. "Unless you want to do it, he's the leader. We don't even have to do anything—why're you complaining?

"Don't like his attitude," Sirius muttered.

Kristen's lips twitched, hiding a ghost of a smile. "Like you're one to talk."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah alright. So what do we do?"

"Here…uh throw in a sheet of salamander skin, stir twice. Wait, no like this…" he grabbed her arm and stirred the mixture.

"OK Mr. Mad Scientist, what next?"  
"Wait for Tree to finish it."

"Tree? Real creative," she said dryly.

He shrugged. "Wood, tree, what else was it supposed to be?"

"Hey that rhymes."

Sirius let out a laugh. "You're so weird."

When she glared at him, he grinned and added, "In a good way."

Alex came back and started mixing in more things, jabbering on as he did.

Both Kristen and Sirius tuned him out, eyes glazing over.

Then, he bottled some of the potion up and cleaned up; the other two helped him slightly.

The bell rang. Everyone inside the classroom dashed out to Charms.

James was ranting. "God, Snape just complained about us through the whole thing! Just went on and on, Riley and I just sat there. The good thing though is that he did the whole thing himself—and we all know what a little nerd he is at that!"

"Dude calm down. You'll get a freakin' good grade anyways," Sirius mumbled.

He fumed. "Still. He only knows all that shit because he's up to his greasy hair in the Dark Arts."

"Woah, down boy," Kristen said lazily.

He shot her a black look. She smirked back.

"Bloody hell James, it's not that big a deal," Riley tried to reassure him.

"Yeah. What're we doing in Charms?" James tried to change the subject.

Lily had been completely ignoring him until he got to the subject of Charms.

"Oh, today we're going to be doing the Banishing Charm! And I know a couple things I want to use it on," she glared at James. "What's with you and Snape?" Lily flounced off.

_Great. So James is moody, Lily is being…acting odd…and everyone else is trying to keep the peace. Odds? Person to person, 5(us) to 2(them). When you factor in that it's James and Lily…uh, them (5) us(2). They would get champion medals for yelling and sulking if there was such a thing. I'm guessing the snowball fight is off.  
_

Charms was boring, but passed quickly. Everyone was on edge because of James' black mood and Lily's tendency to explode. Sirius and Remus tried to keep the peace—Kristen was in an odd thoughtful mode and Riley was silent. Pretty soon, it had become a Cold War, with everyone brooding. The day dragged on, each bored by lack of chatter and entertainment.

Kristen got the other three boys together in the common room after dinner.

"How long d'you think this'll go on?" she referred to James and Lily. "What was it even about?"

"Probably Wednesday," Sirius answered. Today was Monday.

"Honestly, I don't even know Kristen. I think they're both blowing it way out of proportion," Remus muttered.

"Mm. Me too," Kristen yawned. "And now I'm tired. See you guys later," she headed back to her dormitory.

Sirius stood up as well. "Later," he winked, "I've got a date with Selina."

"Man-" began Remus.

"Whore," Sirius finished. "Yeah I've heard it before….probably will again."

He darted through the portrait hole, whistling.

--

**AHH!! Such a late update, and it's not even a good chapter in my opinion! I really shouldn't have this many fics open at the same time ugh. **

**Please review, whose still keeping up with me?**

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**Creative-writing-girl13: Thanks!!**

**P.R.M.A.S.: Mhm yep it was. Oh yeah I went back and fixed that—before, it was meant to be 'James was getting popular' then I changed it. Yes Kristen is older than the others—she meant that compared to most people she is the youngest. Thanks for the review and catching my attention to that mistake!**

**The Littlest Weasel: Yep that chapter was meant to be a little crazy, to kinda depict how their acting. Thanks!!**

**Kannasoul: Thanks for reviewing!! Very glad you like the story. Lol I play spoons with my friends too—though haven't in awhile!! Hope you like this one too :**


	21. More Awkward Questions

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**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

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**-**

It was Sirius' birthday, and said guy was walking around Hogwart's halls at five in the morning, hands shoved in his pockets, thinking that his best friends had forgotten it. Last year he hadn't even told them and they'd scolded him when they found out six months later after they asked him when exactly was his birthday.

He ran into Kristen, returning from the last touching ups of the surprise, whose guilty expression made him suspect something.

"So, what are you doing up so early?" he asked casually.

"Painting my nails yellow," she blinked innocently as soon as she rid herself of the guilty look.

"Oh?" he asked again. "Then why're you running to paint your nails?"

"Because the color is amazing!" She grinned one of those grins that make you suspect that something's up.

"And what are the others doing?"

The sudden change of topic threw her off slightly. "Uh…"

"Tell me what's going on!" Sirius started tickling her madly.

"AHH!! STOP STOP!!" she managed to get out between giggles.

"Tell me what you all are doing!" he grinned. Was this a prank or surprise?

"OKOK! Stop first!"

He stopped. "Weeeell?"

"You'll find out at breakfast!" she broke into a run and ran for the common room, Sirius chasing her.

"BOMBS AWAY!" James led the attack on Sirius with a bunch of pillows as soon as Kristen hit the door and frantically opened it.

"Bloody hell what's with the ambush?!" Sirius' voice was muffled.

Sirius disappeared in a mountain of pillows. Turning to see where all the said items were coming from, Kristen came upon Remus frantically duplicating a pillow in front of him as fast as Peter and James could throw. Rolling off the bed, she grabbed a few and chucked them at Sirius.

"AHHH!!" shaking his head like a dog, Sirius tackled Peter and James in one go.

The four of them were laughing hard as they stopped.

"So, what _were_ you all busy about Kristen?" Sirius grinned slyly.

"Gonna go paint my nails, see you later!" she shut the door as a pillow thwacked against it.

Sirius looked at the other three, who shrugged and the pillow fight started again.

When they finally went down for breakfast, Kristen and the girls were already there.

"Nice nails," Sirius muttered in her ear after he saw her sunny tips. She looked up and grinned.

"Yeah, they better be nice," Riley said dryly, "She freaked out after her right thumb wasn't 'smooth' and redid it, four layers and all."

"Yeah, 'base', two coats of color and top," Lily shook her head teasingly. "Spazzy perfectionist."

Kristen just smiled, and glanced at the clock, and then back at the other three.

Sirius turned to see who she was looking at, as she mouthed 'Three, two, one.'

Fireworks exploded from all corners of the room, causing seventy five percent of the people inside to scream. After the smoke cleared, 'Happy Birthday Sirius!' was formed using the neon colored fiery font.

"Happy birthday mate," James patted him on the back.

"Is that what you were rushing for?" Sirius asked Kristen, grinning amid all the cheers.

"Yeah, don't you feel proud?"

The five of them were had earsplitting grins on their faces.

Whispers (mostly coming from the female half of the room) were all along the lines of, 'so sweet!', 'whose Sirius? That guy? Oh he's hot!', 'James is SO CUTE!', and 'I like that one'.

"JAMES POTTER! You, you, you, you and you, come up here at once!" McGonagall was shaking her head.

Remus moaned. "I _told you_ we'd get a detention."

"Please Remus, if I'm not complaining you shouldn't be," Kristen had a half-grin on her face, standing up with the others.

Surprisingly, McGonagall was sort-of, not-really, maybe, kind of smiling??

"Whoa," Peter muttered. "Check out McGonagall's face."

"Nah, she isn't hot enough," James coughed and shut up once she was in earshot.

"You five, while I think it's very nice of you to celebrate your friend's birthday, kindly keep it private and out of the public's eye."

"But Professor, this _is_ private. We're best buds with the school," James said innocently.

"Right,' McGonagall answered dryly.

"What about me? I didn't _ask_ them to do it," Sirius butted in.

"Alright, you don't have to do the detention." Here, Sirius grinned and left for his seat. "But you four, Friday night, Hagrid's hut."

"OK! Can we go now? We have certain matters to attend to," James said cheekily.

Remus slapped him lightly round the head.

McGonagall turned to him, saying, 'Good one. You're all dismissed."

When the other four walked back, grinning (James with his arms up in a victory stance) as the bell rang to loud cheers all around and the gang left for the Lake. The girls slipped off their shoes and sat down next to the shore, guys following.

Kristen jerked her head at Remus, in James' and Lily's direction. _Jerk, jerk._

Remus sent a confused look back at her.

"Fix their problem," she mouthed.

"Why me?" he mouthed back.

'Because you're closer," she answered.

He made a face, and then swiftly enlisted Sirius' help. Remus pushed Lily in; Sirius pushing James on top of her.

Kristen slapped her head. "You're too blunt!"

The wet duo spluttered, but otherwise seemed to already be over their little spat.

"Oi! What was that for?!" James pulled the two of them in as well.

Lily seemed to have the same thought as James and Riley ended up in with her.

Kristen and Peter had scrambled away from the waters edge.

"Looks like we're the only ones left Pete," Kristen laughed.

The five in the water glanced at each other and simultaneously pulled out their wands, shouting, "_Aguementi!' _

Water shot at the both of them from the five's wands, soaking them anyways.

Kristen shook her head hard, spraying water droplets everywhere. "Fun. Remind me to never let you all team up again," she wrung out her robes wryly.

They hauled themselves up, not noticing the crowd that stared at them, whispering.

Their clothes dried with a flick of their wands while they headed back to the common room.

"Yeah, alright, I did what you told me to and got pulled in. I'm innocent!" Remus mock glared at Kristen.

"Right, that's _such _a punishment," Kristen rolled her eyes. "Anyways, if you're a man act like one."

"Ooh harsh," James butted in. "What'd you tell him to do anyways?"

Kristen shot a discreet look at Remus. "Nothing," she addressed to James.

He shrugged. "OK."

The group disappeared into the Great Hall, not noticing the throng of followers shadowing them.

As soon as they walked into the common room, the seven noticed a—well, to put it politely, round—fifth year sprawled across a couch, slurping butterbeer. Evidently he'd already had several judging by the bottles surrounding him. He dumped the rest in a straight line down—and completely missed, soaking the couch.

"FATTY FAIL!" Kristen announced loudly, obnoxiously.

He tottered up, eyes bloodshot and was heading her way (the guys glaring hard and cracking their knuckles) before another fifth year knocked him over the head. Fatty woozily swung around in a circle before collapsing.

"Did you really have to provoke him Kristen?" Lily asked patronizingly.

Kristen shrugged. "Yeah." She turned to the fifth year who knocked Fatty out and said, "Thanks."

"Yeah anytime," his eyes raked across her body before he turned back to his friends.

"He was checking you out," James grinned.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yah...right."

"Mm, thanks for the vote of confidence," Kristen muttered, eyes fixed on the window.

"Hey do you guys want to play Truth or Dare again? Using a bottle to see who goes?" Riley asked.

James eyed Fatty's many empty butterbeer bottles. "Yeah, I'm game," he casually passed by and snaked out his arm to grab one.

Due to curious eyes peeping at them, Lily suggested that they head up to the boy's dorm.

After they all were settled around James and Sirius' beds (Kristen situated on Sirius' and Riley and Lily on James'), Peter grabbed the bottle and plopped it in the middle.

"Right then, whose first?"

Sirius spun it; landing on Riley. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Riley said apprehensively.

The boys scooched together, whispering. Kristen inched towards them to listen in.

"Right then," James announced, "Did you like anyone this or last year, and who?"

Riley thought for a minute. "Frank Longbottom…but not anymore."

"Longbottom? You don't even talk to him!" Kristen raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you like him anymore?" Peter asked.

"Hey, one question only! Next!" Riley spun it.

It landed on Peter.

"Truth or Dare Pete?" Remus asked.

Peter wavered. "D—truth."

"Alright…"

James whispered to Sirius, who barked out a laugh. "Yeah do that," he grinned.

"Alright Pete, do you jack off?"

Peter was totally caught off guard. "Huh—wha—no!!"

"So you do," Sirius said matter of factly.

Kristen was laughing so hard she was silent, Riley, Lily and Remus were stunned.

James grinned. "It's fine if you do Pete, don't have to be all embarrassed."

Peter was stuttering and a brilliant shade of red now. "N-no, I don't-!"

"Never mind that who's next?" Kristen asked, saving Peter from further embarrassment.

Remus leaned forward and gave the bottle a twirl. It landed on Sirius.

"Either, I don't care."S

"Oh I got this one," Riley grinned.

"What?" Kristen wanted to know. Lily face palmed.

Riley whispered, "If he had sex with Selina."

A half-smile appeared on Kristen's face. "Go ahead."

"SOO….Sirius….did you ever have sex with Selina?" Riley asked casually.

Remus sprayed out his water, coughing.

Sirius grinned. "And if I did?"

Riley shrugged. "Just wanted to know. Anyways, loads of girls have crushes on you."

A dirty grin spread across his face. "Like who?"

Riley shrugged. Kristen had her face buried in a pillow and was shaking from laughing so hard.

"Lily, d'you know? Kristen?" none of them answered him.

James scoffed jokingly. "Psh, mate they're not going to answer you. Who's next?" he spun the bottle quickly, not before he wacked Sirius over the head with it.

"Annd…Kristen."

"Hm? Truth."

"Huh, you're no fun."

Sirius had a mischievous smile on his face. "What about this?" he whispered it to everyone else.

Kristen yawned, but then froze as he voiced the question.

"Would you ever bang one of us?"

**--**

**Dum dum dum…ya REALLY EFFING LAME cliffie hahaha. And uh…about the updates…(hides) I've…been betaing loads of people's fics?? Don't hurt mee!!**

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	22. Restlessness

**Haii, anyone still here? I ish bad with updating, hope that doesn't deter you…..**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

She pretended to think. "Hmm, well, what are my options? You guys, or going lesbian?"

"Sorry babe, you gotta pick one of us,' Sirius grinned.

"Maybe someone who's not self absorbed," she shot back.

"Ouch, that gotta hurt," James commented while Sirius clutched his heart. "So cruel!"

"Hmm, einie meanie mini mo, catch a tiger by his toe, einie meanie mini…mo," she'd picked James. "I guess James then."

"You can't do that!" Peter protested. "You have to…pick!"

She cocked an eyebrow. "I did pick."

"I mean…like…oh whatever."

"If you start something, do try to finish," Lily murmured.

They ended the game once Riley fell asleep and the girls left for their dormitory.

--

The next morning, Kristen made her way down to breakfast. Yawning, she started when someone slid next to her.

"Hey," Alex's somewhat high voice sounded.

"Hey," she murmured, "'sup?"

"Tired," he answered. "Very."

"Mm. Quidditch practice soon," she poured herself a glass of milk.

"Hey, you know that guy?" Alex asked, nodding in the direction of a 4th year. Kristen registered that he looked pretty hot before answering, "No, but I guess I do now?"

"Haha. He's the guy helping Ted develop Quidditch plays; his brother. His names' Connor and he'll be at our practice."

"I see." Connor looked over at them with a slight grin on his face, green eyes sparkling and black-brown hair tousled.

"Hey," James slipped into the seat next to her. He nodded to Alex, "Practice today eh?"

"Hey," she answered.

"Yeah. I was just telling Kristen about Connor, Ted's brother who's helping him develop plays. He's over there," he showed James.

"I see. Why didn't he try out?"

"Had a broken arm,' Alex answered.

The rest of the group entered soon after, and after a fast breakfast they were off to the pitch.

Ted spat at the ground once they were all dressed. "Right guys. After last year's horrible defeats, we have a good team. Solid so far. All we need to do is practice these plays than me and Connor made up."

Ashley grinned and pumped her fist. "GO TEAM! YEAH BABY!"

Kristen caught Ted's smile at her, almost tenderly. _Maybe that's one couple who needs to get together._ She was suddenly reminded, no reason why, of her mother's words: _Lose weight, use your magic to look prettier, and find a nice rich husband. Then you can do whatever you want. But not until then._

It wasn't that she would listen to her freak of a mother, but there was something that Kristen had never told anyone. She slipped in and out of bouts of depression, stemming from lack of self esteem.

And so, everything that criticized her, she took it to heart, and even when she didn't show it. Her cheery exterior slipped. They were taking off, she realized with a shock, and she shook her head to get rid of the gloom and clear her head. The air rushed at them and billowed out their robes and they climbed higher and higher.

The Quaffle came flying her way and she caught it deftly, passing by James and dodging a Bludger as she scored.

Ted threw it back to Ashley, who swerved around Sirius to pass it to Kristen…who threw it back to Ted as Paul almost crashed into her.

"Fuck," she swore as she was forced to dive.

Again, the Quaffle came flying her way and she caught it deftly, passing by James and dodging a Bludger as she threw it in.

The practice raged on well into the afternoon before they stopped.

"Right team, good practice but we'll need a hell lot more if we're going to win against Ravenclaw. Hit the showers," and the team dispersed.

--

"I think it's time for another prank," James stated after dinner. They were in the empty Potions room, lounged in the chairs. Remus had reasoned correctly that this was probably the one place they would definetly not be overhead.

"You got anything in mind?" Kristen asked, a catlike smile on her face.

"Nothing yet. I want to talk to Peeves about it, so he can help us."

"Yeah, alright, let's go!" Sirius leapt up.

They filed after him, leaving the dungeons and setting out for Peeves. After half an hour, they started to grumble.

"Seriously, it'd be so much easier knowing who's where," James muttered. "Instead of looking everywhere."

"So do something about it," Sirius goaded.

"Maybe I will."

"Hey look, there he is!" Remus elbowed James sharply. Peter had been dropped off in a corridor several floors below to look for something to eat.

"Peeves," James called loudly, his strides getting longer.

"Oh it's Potty, you wee rotty—"

"Shove it Peeves," Sirius snarled.

"Tsk tsk, Potty should control his minions mouths, not polite, no not at all!"

"We need your help," James said flatly. The poltergeist's eyes narrowed.

"For what?"

"A prank, if you want in."

He grew less suspicious. "'Chu need help with?"

"Ideas, and execution."

"Well…let's see…I'm thinking…hm, get your hands on some of that truth serum shiz that Sluggy is always going on about. Add a talkative charm or something, whatever it is you wizes do. Slip some in random people's drinks at breakfast and capoush."

"How're we supposed to do that? Get up at 4?" Kristen asked, sarcasm heavily coloring her voice.

"Chang ching chong chung. Hm, gots to figure out some rhymes for you. Kitchen, duh. Left wing of the castle, and go down. Now go away, I gots some stuffs to do."

He bounced away.

"He was talking about Veritaserum," Remus said matter-of-factly. "Where're we gonna get that?"

"Nick some from Sluggy, that's what. Oh, and he's startin' up his Slug Club again, wants to invite me and you Sirius," James muttered. "I thought being sick would stop him from doing that stupid club again."

"Apparently not."

--

**Short chapter this time since honestly I just want to update and to know if I still have readers! Seems to me all my readers for all stories pretty much died! Can I get a yay/nay for the direction this story seems to be going?**

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	23. Taking Peeve's Advice: Good Idea?

**Don't own it.**

James was twitchy. He was stuck alone at Slughorn's party, because Sirius and Kristen had gone to 'borrow' some Veritaserum at the other end of the dungeons. Remus and Peter were busy mixing up the Unstoppable Chatter potion back in the dormitories, so he was stuck alone.

Slughorn swished past him, firewhiskey making his voice louder than usual.

"James!" he boomed, swaying slightly and popping another crystallized pineapple into his mouth. "Don't look so gloomy old chap—why are you alone? Where's Mr. Black? I'm sure I invited him?"

"Oh, stomachache," James said absently, looking around. He spotted a mass of curly auburn hair—was that Lily?

He looked up at Slughorn. "If I may be excused…?"

"Oh all right, I'm sure you need to go and charm another silly girl," Slughorn hiccupped and turned. "Ah, Phillip! How nice to see you…"

James shoved his way through the crowd to find the girl. After a few moments however, he turned back. It wasn't her…she had hazel eyes and freckles. And knowing Lily she would have come for the niceties but leave as soon as it got rough.

Meanwhile…

Sirius and Kristen were silently groping around in the dark for the cabinet where they had seen Slughorn put various potions; including Veritaserum. Actually, it was only Kristen fumbling around for it while Sirius looked for a chair or something to elevate them.

"Damn, it's no use," she heard his low voice mutter. He appeared next to her again. "Everything's nailed down…I suppose some people must've done a disappearing act on them before."

"Right then, well…found it!" she called softly, triumphantly. "The cabinets here…but…" her fingers grazed the bottom edges, looking for a handle. There were none. "Mm…k…" she tested pulling the door up and out, and that did the trick.

"Got the potion?"

"No, I have to get higher to see which one it is, and to reach it," she answered.

Sirius let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you sure Accio won't work? There's no way…"

"_Accio Veritaserum!"_ she tested. Nothing flew out.

"Must be a Charm," Kristen answered.

"No way…" he repeated, but then his eyes lighted. "Kristen…"

"What?" Realization dawned on her. "Wha—no! No, we are NOT doing that! Sirius shut up you'll get us caught! No!"

Sirius had lifted her up easily by the waist.

"I'm fucking scared of heights!"

"How the hell do you play Quidditch then?" he grunted. The effort of holding her up took its toll on him. "Just hurry up and get it!"

"_Lumos,_" Kristen lighted up her wand and shielded the glow from anyone who might see it from the outside.

_There!_ Thanking Merlin that there were only a few potions in that cabinet, she took the clear one and murmured, "You can put me down now. _Nox_," the light went out.

He let her slide down his chest until she stood in front of him. "Here, let me see," his voice was still hushed by stealth.

"Later, we need to get out of here and find James."

Nodding, he led the way out of the murky classroom and to where vibrations of hideously loud singing shook the stone beneath their feet.

Luckily, James was coming out of the party, so anxious was he to work on the prank.

"Got it then?" he asked eagerly.

"Yeah. Sirius probably took a few years off my life just trying to grab it," Kristen muttered.

James angled a questioning glance at Sirius, who shrugged. "Apparently she's afraid of heights."

"Bullshit if I ever heard it! How do you play Quidditch then?"

"That's what I asked!" the darker haired boy laughed.

"Quidditch on a steady broomstick is still different from a stringy little boy holding me up," Kristen stuck her tongue out at him.

In response, he started tickling her.

"Guys, hurry up! I want to see how Remus and Peter are getting on," James said impatiently.

"That sounds strangely naughty," Kristen gasped; Sirius was still tickling her and she was bent over double laughing.

"Only because you are a dirty girl," Sirius let her catch her breath and stopped.

James rolled his eyes playfully. "And you aren't Sirius?"

"Just the girl part."

"If you'd said anything else I wouldn't've believed you," James answered, satisfied.

Sirius and Kristen followed James into the Gryffindor common room—Kristen warily staying a few feet ahead of Sirius.

Entering the boy's dormitory, they heard a conversation and the slow bubbling of a molasses like textured substance. _Glug-glug-glug._

"Yo, is it done yet?" Kristen barged through the door in time to see Peter jump a foot and Remus almost spill the entire contents of the cauldron.

"Jeez, for a woman you act an obnoxious eight-year-old," Remus exclaimed, righting the cauldron with a flick of his hand.

She gave him a funny look. "You can't be serious Remus, I never knew you were sexist!"

Overcome by horror, he spluttered, "No—NO! That's not what I meant!"

Kristen burst out laughing, letting him know she was completely kidding and didn't know he was that gullible.

"Shut up," Remus colored slightly after realizing that she had bested him.

"God, the look on your face," she choked out.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Am I not funny enough for you? _That_ wasn't THAT funny."

"Ooh Sirius is jeaaaa-lous!" James nimbly danced out of his reach.

"Yes, because Kristen is SO worth being jealous over," he shot a playful smirk in her direction that let her know that he was kidding.

"Yeah, and because having YOU jealous for me is such a good thing," she ducked his good-hearted punch.

"Alright, back to the potion," Remus said crisply. "All we need to do is add the Veritaserum and make sure everyone in the school eats it somehow."

"Easier said than done eh?" James asked, looking dubiously at the green colored muck.

"Yeah, we'll have a job trying to persuade people to eat that stuff," Peter agreed.

Sirius had an idea. "Well, what's magic for? Obviously people won't eat _that_ shit, but tinkering around, we could add it into the food from the kitchens."

"And how would we get the house elves to add this secret ingredient?" Kristen asked. "Because they are so likely to add some suspicious looking substance at the request of a couple twelve-year olds," she continued sarcastically.

James tilted his head to aside. "Going off of Sirius' idea, we could make it look like something else. Maybe like powder? And tell them it'll make the food shiny and prettier?"

"Would that work though?" Kristen pressed on.

"Oh stop being a rain cloud Chang," Sirius muttered. "If I have to I'll lock you up in a broom closet with your twitchy little boyfriend."

"He's not—" Kristen began, then realized what he had said and shut up.

The downside of hanging with guys like them all the time was the fact that they'd get the best of you once in awhile.

OK, make that quite often.

All the time?

She conceded defeat.

Sirius gave her a smug look and turned back to the problem.

"So is it done yet?" he asked.

Remus nodded. "It just needs to stew for a few more minutes."

"Right then. Peter and I'll go look up some 'recipes' for changing the substance," James indicated himself and Peter.

"And we can figure out how much of the stuff we need?" Remus asked, measuring the contents of the cauldron with a dubious eye.

"Yeah. Make sure that we have enough for the school eh?"

The two guys wandered off.

Kristen stuck her middle finger up at their retreating backs, rolled her eyes _again_ and then turned back to the other two she was left with.

"Right then," Remus said briskly. "Who wants to go down to the kitchens and observe the quantity of food?"

Both Kristen and Sirius immediately got up and fought to get to the door.

Remus sighed.

"Rock Paper Scissors!"

"Out of 3?" Kristen asked, warily glancing at Sirius.

"Yeah alright. You'll need it to beat me," he winked.

"Bring it!"

They squared off like it was the most important thing in the world, with their lives at stake.

In slow motion, they chanted, "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Kristen grinned. "Who's losing now?"

"Got lucky," Sirius huffed. "Again!"

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Kristen burst out laughing. "See you later Siri!"

"Cheater!" he howled after her with a lopsided grin on his face.

Her response?

The door slammed behind her.

Remus stifled a grin at Sirius' pouty lip. "You lost mate, fair and square."

"Yeah yeah whatever. The potions done—want to see how concentrated it is?"

The sandy haired boy eyed it warily. "Only if you're the guinea pig."

"Alright. I hope it doesn't taste that bad."

Sirius dipped his finger into the tan muck and sucked off the dollop of it off his finger.

When he opened his mouth, "I hate my parents so much. They're pureblooded maniacs, and my mother is a control freak obsessed with heritage. My dear old dad is trying to get back in favor with the Ministry to get a bit of leverage for the new laws. And they've already corrupted my brother," spilled out of his mouth. He smacked his own mouth, looking horrified.

Remus cocked his head. "Is that true?" he asked.

Silently, Sirius nodded. Suddenly he was glad Kristen wasn't here. He didn't want her pity, and didn't want to know what she would have said in response to all of that.

Didn't want to know if she would judge him or not.

"And why didn't you tell us before?" Remus continued.

Sirius shrugged, pulling his cool exterior back on. "Didn't want you guys to judge me," he mumbled, forgetting that the potion hadn't worn off yet. "Didn't wanna know what you'd think."

The fairer haired boy raised an eyebrow but didn't press it.

The door opened and Kristen appeared, bringing a bag of something that smelled absolutely heavenly.

"They said they're making the usual amount, which is like 4 platters of each dish at each table, and there's going to be about 30 different dishes," she announced.

"Pastry?" Kristen offered the two guys. "They were begging to give stuff away, so I took it. You like the brownies right Sirius?" she knew perfectly well that he did.

He took one out of the bag. "Yeah, thanks," he smiled at her.

It was a sweet gesture, he thought.

She smiled back, an easy gesture that reassured him of their friendship.

Remus took a lemon custard and bit into it.

"Well, if anything, we could just dump the potion in the mix of whatever their eating," Sirius mumbled through a thick mouthful of brownie.

James and Peter were back soon.

"No, changing the appearance and texture of a substance will not cause it to work differently," James flounced into the room, wearing his glasses like McGonagall did, up to the tip of his nose and sounding like he'd swallowed a textbook.

"James!" Kristen gasped; he'd started tickling to and she'd dropped the bag of food, which he dove for.

"I would've given you some anyways," she sat up.

"Yeah, because I trust you so much with food," James huffed, stuffing a whole brownie square into his mouth.

"I'm trustworthy, it's Sirius you've gotta worry about. He eats anything edible and quite a lot that isn't."

The shaggy haired boy smiled the kind of slow grin that was guaranteed in later years to bring hundreds of girls to a faint.

"You know how I do."

_Yeah. I do._

--

Two days later, barely three o'clock, five shadowy figures made their way down silent halls to the kitchen. One hand stretched out to tickle a pear; another opened the green door handle that appeared after a bout of giggles. Yet still another held a container of brilliantly shimmering white powder. House elves swarmed them, squeaking madly and wanting to know what brought them to their humble kitchen at this hour.

Telling them that the powder would make the food especially beautiful—shimmering and dancing with rainbows when it caught the light—one of the figures charmed the house-elves enough to make sure they would sprinkle it in and on everything at breakfast.

Thanking the elves, the figures left and prayed that their plan would work.

--

**Wow…really have lost pretty much all motivation to finish this story! : /. Maybe it's because the Harry Potter craze is over.**

**Anyways…**

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	24. Author's Note

**GUYS, THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE.**

**I've just lost all my muse to continue this story. Like, everything, because I don't see how I have the energy to go on through all the next years till I can finally get to do some action scenes. SO....here are my options.**

**1. I can just simply leave the fic where it is.**

**or**

**2. I can delete this fic.**

**or**

**3. I can skip ahead to 5th year, where all the action starts.**

**What do you guys say? **

**Please let me know...**

**OOD**

**Ocean of Dreams  
**


	25. God Yes, It's Here

That prank was the first of many that the five of them escaped, undetected with. But now, they were in their fifth year at Hogwarts, knowing that their O.W.L.'s were coming up and they had one year to decide what their futures were going to be. The Marauder nickname had already been christened on them by an exasperated McGonagall, and so they all cheerfully bore it.

By now, James was the undisputed star of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Sirius and Kristen his supporting cast members. He was also team Captain, as much of their original team had graduated. His features were constantly gone over by his fans, untidy black hair, gleaming hazel eyes, and a physique made well by Quidditch. And, much of the school's girls, no matter what year they were, fawned over and scrutinized his every move. He'd already had a few serious girlfriends, and more than a few non-serious ones, but they just kept coming onto him.

Sirius had grown into his aristocratic good looks, keeping the other half of the school's girls starry-eyed. With his barking laugh and sarcasm that perfectly complimented James' flamboyant, in your face humor, he never had a shortage of fangirls either. Of course, he and James were often compared; Sirius' "sexy" broodiness, shaggy black hair, dark grey eyes and leaner build were why he was preferred over James to his fans. But he didn't have girlfriends—he had one night stands. That didn't seem to deter the amount of partners he had though.

While Remus wasn't on the Quidditch team, even he had a few girls crushing on him. Who James and Sirius hung out with didn't go unnoticed, and the girls who liked him admired his studiousness, fine sandy blonde hair and warm eyes, as well as his willingness to go with whatever James and Sirius had cooked up next.

And lastly, Peter, whom, out of their group, had decidedly the least girls like him, but those who did liked his easy attitude towards life. And there couldn't be anything bad about him, if he hung out with the most dazzling boys in school right?

Now at fifteen years old, Kristen hadn't gone unnoticed either. Even though she didn't have rabid fans, there were quite a few guys who would have liked to hang 'round her. But Sirius' and James' overprotectiveness often left her irritated and without anyone else to talk to, ready to lash out.

But one thing she had done, damn the consequences, was go and date Connor, their former team Captain's brother; now a seventh year. When James and Sirius had found out, they had completely flipped. But Kristen had stood up to them, in the middle of the full, completely silent common room, and calmly said that it was their fault she'd never gotten so much as a date in the five years at Hogwarts despite being asked out by several people, and she wasn't going to turn into a nun for them. She'd also said that if they tried to wreck her relationship with Connor, a slow castration with a rusty, dull knife would be headed their way.

James and Sirius had had a row with her, but grudgingly letting her have her way when it became apparent that she wouldn't change her mind.

At the moment, the five of them were at breakfast—the first week of their 5th year.

"Hey, nice to see you could wake up," Kristen lightly banged her shoulder against James' as he yawned, seating himself next to her.

"Yeah, after last night I wonder how I could have," he muttered, blearily opening his eyes to bite on a piece of bacon.

She rolled her eyes. "Who was it this time?"

"Angelique Duprez," Remus cut in. "The Hufflepuff sixth year."

Kristen wrinkled her nose. "That girl? Whatever happened to you trying to impress Lily?"

James sighed. "Do you have to talk about her when I just woke up?"

"Hey mate, at least you can think," Sirius groaned, his arms cradling his head. "That firewhiskey was _strong_."

"Just as long as you aren't dead," Kristen grabbed an ice cube and stuffed it down the back of his shirt, making him jump and curse.

"The hell was that for?!" he swore again, yanking at his shirt, and made it fall out.

Kristen shrugged. "Dunno," and laughed. "At least you aren't dead anymore."

He stuck his tongue out at her, and raised his voice. "No, Kristen, I will not take off my shirt! That's disgusting!"

Without missing a beat, she answered, "Because I would totally want to see your man boobs anyways."

"Don't be jealous 'cause they're bigger than yours," he laughed, she rolled her eyes and sauntered off to find Connor with a parting shot of, "I think you should check your cup size, I'm pretty sure that's an A, not a C!"

James led a round of whoops by the rest of the 5th year Gryffindor boys as they hooted, and Sirius couldn't think of a witty retort.

Behind her, Sirius scowled as she left to find her boyfriend. It wasn't that he thought Connor wasn't right for her—it was that he _was_. _Too_ right for her.

"Cheer up mate," James thumped him on the back. "She doesn't have any classes with him."

"Thank Merlin."

"You know, if you don't like her with him, you could just try to break them up," Remus commented casually, buttering a piece of toast.

"She would murder me," Sirius stared morosely at his orange juice. "And if she's happy…"

"You don't have the balls to break them up," James bantered lightly, and let his eyes wander to a certain redhead.

"You don't have the balls to get Lily to go out with you," Sirius rejoined, stuffing more food into his mouth.

"Hey, mate, don't go there," James mumbled, chewing on scrambled eggs.

"Then don't go there about Kristen and Johnson, thanks."

Remus effectively changed the subject. "So, Potions! Ready for another year with Sluggy?"

"Do we still have it with the Slytherins?"

Remus gave him a strange look. "Well, yeah. It's only till next year enough people drop it so the classes become mixed."

Sirius blinked, shaking his head so his hair flew everywhere, but then flopped back to its original, perfect state, making his fans sigh and a few faint.

Then, he and James turned in unison to the Ravenclaw table, where Kristen had slid into a spot next to her boyfriend, who had his arm around her shoulders. Her smile was bright as Connor's friends laughed; effectively entertaining her. Sirius' scowl deepened.

James coughed. "Stop staring," cough, cough.

Peter laughed, the only sound he'd made so far as he'd been sleeping at the table. "Be careful, someone might notice that you're turning green," he remarked.

Sirius dragged his eyes away from Kristen's group as the breakfast bell rang, and they stood up to get to Potions.

"Hey Potter," a few boys gave James high fives as they passed him.

"Black," others greeted Sirius with rough grins and shoulder bumps.

Another 7th year bumped fists with them as the four guys made their way to the dungeon, their paths smoothed out for them as people automatically got out of their way.

Two minutes before class started, Kristen walked in and slid into a seat next to Sirius, slouching slightly, with a half-smile on her face.

"Did you get lucky?" Sirius asked, leaning back on his chair, absently flicking bits of ripped up parchment at Slytherins with his wand.

"I wouldn't be here right now if I had," she shot back, twirling her quill between her fingers.

James smirked, shifting in his seat. "No, I reckon you'd be on your back."

"Shagging like mad," Sirius added; his light tone didn't betray the irritation in his eyes.

"Fuck yeah," her eyelids shut sleepily.

Soon though Slughorn bustled in and began lecturing them on O.W.L's, and that no goofing off would be tolerated from then on. No one was listening, simply tapping their feet and watching the clock for when it would be over. Since it was only the third day back, most of the professors were still waxing eloquence on the importance of this year. And frankly, most of them were more interested in satisfying primal urges and the upcoming Quidditch season than classes.

Kristen blinked. At the moment, life was pretty damn good. Her best friends were there for her, she was able to talk to and hang round just about anyone in her year [and quite a few that weren't] and her boyfriend was amazing. O.W.L. year was just another year—but she already had her future planned out. There were rumors of some crackpot dark wizard rising, and she wanted to be facing them.

When the bell finally rang for them to go to their second Transfiguration class of the week, the first one out the door was none other than Kristen. Closely following were James and Sirius, while the other two were taking their time.

"We're getting bored," James began, winking at a few girls passing by them.

"And?" Kristen asked, ignoring seemingly the whole female population that had coincidentally turned up in the same hallway as them.

"We want your help," Sirius answered.

"For what?" she was wary now. Some of their schemes were just not moral in her opinion—and their treatment of that Snape kid? Sickened her a little bit.

"Well, James here wants you to help him get Lily," Sirius cracked, and James elbowed him.

"I don't need Kristen for that mate, I can do it on my own, with my own dazzling charm," he made a face at Sirius.

"Yeah, whatever you say."

"We just need you to, erm, say a spell in the girl's dormitory."

"What, and why?"

James shot a look at Sirius. "According to our calculations," he attempted to sound pompous, and in Kristen's opinion, did it very well, "it should be behind the nightstand of the third bed."

"The hell? That's my bed," she gave them an odd look. "And what's the spell?"

"Revalio Relashio," Sirius answered her. "Just move the stand, tap the wall and say it."

"Why?" they were now nearing the Transfiguration classroom.

"Just do it. And then, if it works, we'll tell you."

She shrugged. "Alright."

"James, when are we starting Quidditch practice?" Sirius asked, seating himself easily between his two friends. Peter and Remus soon appeared, choosing to sit in front of the three.

"Next week," the other Marauder answered. "I've already gotten permission from McGonagall. It's a good thing that Slytherin's captain is still being disputed, 'cause then it gives us an advantage."

"What happened?" Kristen asked; she hadn't been keeping up with the rumors about Slytherin House.  
"Well, Bradley said he got the badge, so everyone thought it was him. But then that other guy, McKintosh, said that he had it, but it disappeared. So now McKintosh is saying that Bradley stole it, and their House is taking sides."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Just give them a bit of Veritaserum, why don't they? And wouldn't Slughorn know who he gave it to?"

"Sluggy thinks that he can handle it, and no, he can't remember," James answered.

"Bunch of idiots," Kristen laughed.

McGonagall strode into the room to begin class as the bell rang.

"Alright class, we will be working on Vanishing spells today. Kindly clear your desk—_yes_, Mr. Potter?" her voice was sharp; a testament to how many times James had interrupted her over the years.

"I thought we were practicing Conjuring spells professor," his eyes widened. "I spent all night practicing those!"

"You must have heard wrong—that which I have no doubt about, it must be nigh impossible to hear anything over the sounds of _your_ own voice. But, you may demonstrate the Conjuring spell—if you have the ability, of course," her voice changed to mellifluously dangerous.

"Gladly, my dear professor!" James flourished his wand silently, and a bouquet of red roses appeared with a trumpeting noise and a shower of confetti. Grabbing it, he strode through the aisles of the classroom to the front, where he bowed and handed it to McGonagall, cocky grin in place.

"The least I could do for you."

Sirius led a round of cheers in the backround with Peter clapping wildly. James looked around at his peers, searching out a particular redhead's expression—which was disdain and irritation as she turned away. His eyes lowered a fraction of an inch before regaining his trademark smirk; everything had changed ever since that one fateful day…

Kristen's face remained carefully blank.

McGonagall pursed her lips, not showing any of the approval over his magical talent that she felt. For Conjuring spells were already 5th year regime; having conjured it silently and with such bombastic air was quite impressive.

"Thank you Mr. Potter. Now, you may use the rest of the class to work on your Vanishing Spell. Since you are so efficient at Conjuring, I assume you will be equally proficient at Vanishing. We will see at the end of class."

Some hoots in the backround, mixed with a few laughs.

"Same for you Mr. Black. Leave the hooting for the Quidditch field," she swept off.

The two of them high fived, barely acknowledging the admiring glances cast their way by at least half of the females in the room.

Professor McGonagall ignored their latest antics and set about teaching the rest of the class how to do Vanishing Spells. But out of their group, only Peter and Remus were paying much attention—Peter because he still didn't know how to do them after James had explained to him and Remus because he needed to pay attention to all his teachers after receiving his prefect's badge.

James' eye once again strayed to Lily, and this time, Kristen caught him. Jerking her head, she wordlessly asked, _why?_ Why what? She already knew that James liked the girl. And they would be together, if teenage recklessness hadn't decided to push the Marauders a few years ago. More like _why_ he wasn't doing anything about it.

James met Kristen's eyes and, shrugging, nodded at Sirius.

Angrily, she tossed her head and reverted her attention back to the Professor. Letting out a soft sigh, James let a small smile flit across his lips. While the whole school thought that she was either in love with Sirius, him, or Remus and therefore cheating on Connor, he knew she would never do that. And he also knew that it irritated her to no fucking end and was the fastest thing to make her shut up.

Because his uncertainness about his life was starting to scare him.

**Well, as you can see, I'm definetly continuing this. I'm wondering how I'm going to work all the scene's I've pre-written into the plot, but hey, you guys like drama right? Plenty of heartache, tears and fights. One thing I do have to say:**

**I'M GOING TO BE UPDATING MUCH MORE SLOWLY! And irregularly! I REALLY, REALLY want to get my Inheritance Fan Fiction, Alex Rider, and Percy Jackson ones DONE and over with, as well as my (currently) sole fictionpress one. This story and my other, Harry Potter one will unfortunately be shunted to the side (I'll still update though). I need to finish these projects so I can start all the ones I have in my head!**

**Thanks for hearing me out, let me know how 5****th**** year is going so far!**

**Review Replies:**

**  
SkyePuppy25: I really didn't leave you guys an option did I? I was going to include one about me dragging all the other years on—pretty much bits of fluff—but I was depressed at the thought of it. Thanks for letting me know your two cents! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Hurricane-Rachel: Your wish, my command : )**

**Pheobep3: Done!**

**Hooda: I have so many plots cooked up…enjoy!**


	26. Chapter 26

Kristen shifted underneath Connor as his lips brushed against hers lightly, and she pushed against him to deepen the contact. A corner of his mouth quirked in amusement even as his eyes—beautiful green eyes—darkened. They were in an empty classroom, on a stone bench…the two of them had started with conversation, but Merlin knew how they got to kissing.

It wasn't the first time they'd ended up in that position.

His hands were behind her back, pulling her closer, lips leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, and her fingers were in his hair, eyelids shut halfway. He returned attention to her mouth as the door opened.

Growling, Kristen took her time turning her head to see who it was, making no move to change their positions. Her boyfriend did as well, smirk tugging at his lips.

Maybe she was kind of expecting it to be Sirius and one of his…fans.

"Sorry mate, this room's taken," she smiled insolently. "Find another one."

"We can share darling, it's not as if this room isn't big enough for the four of us," Sirius' eyes hardened slightly at Connor's position on top of Kristen.

The older boy smiled a smile without any real warmth.

"Get out Sirius, we can't fit the four of us and your ego in here," Kristen snapped, fingers trailing gently down Connor's torso as she spoke.

"I'm not going anywhere," Sirius let his blonde girl drape herself across him and started sucking face.

Beyond irritated now, Kristen grabbed her wand and hit him, in quick succession, with a Tickling Charm, Jelly Legs Jinx and Stinging Hex in a choice area.

His 'girlfriend' yelped as he jerked, clutching his crotch as the hex hit him, and he keeled over and started giggling uncontrollably even as his legs went limp.

Kristen snorted; Connor cracked a few chuckles as they got off the bench, striding past Sirius, who was now reaching for his wand.

The blonde was kneeling next to him, wailing and screaming at Kristen, but she was effectively blocking Sirius' way of jinxing Kristen back. She sped up, reaching the door and leaving the room hastily.

Connor slammed the door shut as something thudded against it on the opposite side.

Kristen sighed as he tugged her along the corridor to find another private spot.

"That was an effective mood-killer," she muttered.

"Beautiful wand work love, remind me not to piss you off," Connor chuckled, stopping at a broom closet and opening the door.

"Thank you," she murmured as the two of them squeezed in. And she made the first move, reaching up to kiss him.

She could feel his grin when her lips connected with his, as he settled underneath her against the wall, hands running down her body and she sighed, because how did she land such a perfect boy?

Kristen grinned and adjusted their positions so that she was sitting in his lap, legs on either side of him, and their breathing quickened.

Connor kissed her hard, their hands everywhere, breathing hard when their lips met again, and he bit her neck gently.

"Con-nor," she whimpered, dragging his name out, then sighed. "I can't do this tonight," she gently untangled their lips. "We kick off the Quidditch tournament tomorrow morning. And you know how Gryffindors party."

He sighed too, and then pressed a quick kiss onto her lips. "Day after tomorrow then?"

"Whenever you want," she answered, smiling, giving him a hug.

"Walk you back?" he asked, slightly saddened when they stood up, and their contact broke.

"Please," she opened the door of the closet, and muttered, "Maybe we should cast that Disillusionment Charm now."

He obliged, tapping the two of them on the head and grabbed her hand, and they walked to Gryffindor Tower, where they shared one last kiss goodnight and left.

--

Kristen groaned when morning came and she got out of bed, hand mussing up her bed-head hair. Damn! Why did matches have to be in the morning?

She was fully awakened though when she splashed water on her face, dressed in her robes and headed down to breakfast.

Remus, the announcer for another year in a row, was already there, as was James and Sirius.

"Nervous?" Remus asked the three of them.

"Well, yeah," Kristen muttered. "Even if we've had about seven more practices than Slytherin."

"Seriously babe? You still haven't apologized for hexing me to hell and back yesterday," Sirius pouted.

"See, I would be sorry if you weren't acting like a complete douche," Kristen barely looked up from the slice of fruit she was chewing on.

"Fuck, Kristen, you need to eat more. That apple won't last you ten seconds into the match," James ignored Sirius and cut in over their conversation.

"You haven't apologized for making out with him where anyone could see you," Sirius threw back.

"Fine James," Kristen answered calmly, taking a slice of ham as well. "And Sirius, that's the first time I've ever been walked in on, and I think you knew we were in there. I don't know how, but I think you knew."

James glared at Sirius for a second before responding easily, "He's got Marauder intuition, like the rest of us."

Kristen was spared from answering when an owl, carrying a bouquet of flowers dropped down in front of her, offering the flowers.

Stunned, her eyes narrowing, she took the beautiful red roses—now the slowly filling Hall was whispering, eyeing them—and read the card, grin breaking out as she did so.

Sirius, expression now free from whatever playfulness he had displayed before, grabbed the piece of parchment to read what it said.

_Just because. Good luck today—C._

She turned to look for her boyfriend, and her gaze was drawn towards the doors, which he leaned against, giving her the sexiest smile ever, and winked.

Other girls were dropping like flies and wailing now at how they wished he was single as she smiled back.

He turns and disappears out of the doors, as she weaves a few of the roses into her hair with magic.

James wore a laughing grin. "Really, that's all I have to do to get Lily to fall for me? Send her a bunch of flowers, saying, just because?"

"No, now that everyone's seen what Connor's done you have to top it, obviously," Remus snorted.

Sirius scowled. "I could top that easy. Who needs flowers when they could have mind-blowing sex anyways?"

"I'll have you know, Sirius, that Connor gives flowers and _can_ deliver," Kristen sneered at him, after attracting the attention of every guy in the room with the flowers in her hair.

"Really?" Sirius shot back. "You sure you two are exclusive?"

"Yeah, Sirius, it's actually possible to be flaming hot and monogamous," Kristen rolled her eyes at him and finished eating breakfast.

James, having eaten everything edible within two feet of him, leapt up when she stood. "Come on, let's head to the field," he muttered, his voice not betraying his nerves. Kristen could tell he was nervous, because that was when he started eating everything.

So she didn't put up any fuss and they silently changed into their red and gold robes, and waited for the rest of the team to arrive.

"Does Sirius really dislike Connor that much?" Kristen asked a bit wearily. "Every time he talks about him he takes a crack at him. What's up with that?"

James blinked at her. "It's not that he doesn't think you two don't fit well, love, it's just that...well, Sirius is giving Connor crap because he thinks if Connor will go through it for you, he deserves to be with you," he fibbed.

Kristen snorted. "Wow. Okay. If I didn't think Connor was genuine, I don't think I would've slept with him."

"You've—"

"Yeah, and don't castrate the guy James. I think I wanted to go faster more than he did. And don't tell Sirius, Merlin's pants. But I'll tell Remus."

"I don't know what's worse, having the mental picture of you naked or knowing you're shagging," James mimed vomiting.

"Mate, shut up. I don't fancy having a naked picture of you in my mind either though Merlin knows what I've walked in on."

"So, who bottoms?" James grinned wickedly.

The door opened, and the rest of the team filed in, saving Kristen from having to retort.

They changed in less than five minutes, and gathered 'round their Captain.

"Okay. We have got this in the bag," James started. "They're disorganized. They're messy. They don't have a real team, like we do, or a place to gather heart from. And they know it. We're confident. We've had the last week and a half to practice, one-up them, and we've done great. We're feelin' good, we work together well, and we have the best team we could have. Now is when we're going to show everyone that we're back for another Cup!"

James thrust his arm into the center, and six more arms joined him, and they shot upwards and yelled, "Go team!"

They strode out onto the field, where Madame Hooch waited, where they could see the Slytherin team coming out to meet them and formed a half-circle around James.

Kristen met the eyes of each of the opposing players coolly, promising them one hell of a game.

"Mount your brooms…Keep this clean, ladies, gentlemen," Hooch was saying, meeting every player's eyes. "Shake hands," James and the Slytherin captain grasped each others fingers and attempted to crush them, "And…BEGIN!"

A Gryffindor fourth year Chaser named Will Dickens grabbed the Quaffle and sped off, Kristen and the other Chaser, a seventh year, Adrienne Everette peeling away from him in an arrowhead formation. The Slytherins gave chase, Beaters pounding a Bludger towards them. Will ducked it and in a blur of movement, passed it underhandedly to Kristen and they changed positions, he flying underneath and she rising to take the center. When the Slytherin Chasers came after her, she did the same thing, passing it to Adrienne who passed it back to her as another Bludger came rocketing her way.

Kristen feinted left and as the Slytherin Keeper lurched that way, threw it into the center hoop _("And Kristen Chang puts it neatly through for 10-0 Gryffindor…Slytherins can't be too happy for that..")_

Cheers erupt from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw (who had bitterly lost a close match with Slytherin last year) side, and she spotted a huge sign saying, 'ROSES FOR THE CUP' and bit back a grin as she flew forward, eyes on the Quaffle's current location in Slytherin possession.

"Kristen!" Adrienne shouted, and she turned her head in time to dodge a runaway Bludger that Sirius was chasing after.

"The hell are you playing at, Black?" Kristen yelled, trying to get as far away from the two as possible. _("And a Gryffindor Chaser nearly gets flattened by a Bludger, we wonder if Mr. Sirius Black was going for that effect or not…")_

"Sorry darling," he responded, whacking the Bludger towards the Chaser in possession's back.

Kristen winced when it made contact, causing the boy to drop the Quaffle and hunch forward.

Will launched forward to grab the ball, but another Slytherin chaser rammed into him to steal it, causing a foul. _("A foul on Slytherin, a rather odd play if you ask me…")_

With a glance at Kristen, who nodded for him to take the foul, Will flew forward.

He chucked it at the left hoop with one arm, and miraculously, the Slytherin Keeper knocked it away by an inch.

"Better luck next time," Adrienne called, already zooming off to resume play.

James was hovering at the highest point of anyone on the field and was scanning the pitch to look for the Snitch, before Slytherin inevitably ended up scoring points. Below him, the Chasers and Beaters flew past each other.

Kristen dove after a Bludger _and_ a Beater careened her way, scowling. There was going to be way too much bodily contact if they didn't hurry up and score.

Luckily, she found herself in a prime position as the Slytherins passed the Quaffle, and flicking a hand out, she stole it, pouring on speed to get to the other side of the pitch.

The Gryffindor crowd was roaring now, as the rest of the players reversed their positions. _(And Gryffindor's Chang steals the Quaffle from the Slytherins, Beater Black coming up next to her and Everette coming for the pass, yes, and she puts it through! Adrienne Everette scores 20-0 to Gryffindor! And the crowd goes wild!"_

But the Slytherins put a damper on things when they effectively feinted and scored the Quaffle in right hoop. _("Slytherins score 20-10 to Gryffindor, let's see if they can pull this one off against the defending champions..")_

Growling, Sirius effectively smashed a Bludger into one of the opposing Chaser's stomachs, then turned his broom around and dealt the other one to shatter a broomstick.

The girls below went crazy.

Will laughed, and, met eyes with Kristen to start their plan: distracting the last opposing Chaser.

"Hey hey hey," Kristen swooped next to the Slytherin, "What up, dog? You seem to be a little nervous," she pulled up around the scrawny third year, who tried to get away. Will was blocking him though, and the two Gryffindors circled above and below him, like the sides of a tornado. _("Hey, check out two Gryffindor Chasers—Chang and Dickens—harassing the Slytherin Chaser Toufer! Slytherin Captain Bradley is not too happy and sends a Bludger towards the trio—Oh I guess Toufer heard me say that, he's crashed into Chang and out of the pack the two Gryffindors have created and—DROPPED THE QUAFFLE! Dickens in possession, Chang whirling around and leaving Toufer in the dust—don't worry Mr. Johnson, she appears to be fine." (Hoots were heard in the Ravenclaw section, where Connor grinned broadly and raised his chin towards Remus).)_

Will let out a chuckle, but swore, ducked and threw the Quaffle to Kristen when James, hot on pursuit of the Snitch, nearly knocked him off his broom. _("And egomaniac James Potter, Captain of the Gryffindor team almost knocks his teammate off his broom; you should be a little more careful towards your own blokes Potter…")_

"Sorry mate!" James shouted and continued chasing the golden ball.

Kristen ignored this and flew forward, scoring almost contemptuously as their other Beater; Tyler Jackson sent a Bludger into the Keeper's way, almost smashing in his face.

_("Another easy score for Gryffindor's Chang to put it at 30-10, and—oh my, has Potter spotted the Snitch?")_

Kristen and Will both whipped around to see James pull up with a huge grin on his face, Snitch in the hand and in the air and the Gryffindor players dove down to meet their Captain. Red and Gold fans screamed.

"Well finally!" Kristen shouted when she hit the ground and tackled James in a running hug.

The rest of the teammates joined in a brief group hug, clearly rubbing it in the face of the losing Slytherins.

"I'm surprised your roses didn't fall out," Sirius smirked, twirling her around.

"Magic, baby," she laughed. "We'd better hit the showers before yours and James' groupies flood the field."

James seemed to have realized that as well and called for them to get into the changing room.

Ten minutes later saw the team get out and head towards the celebrations.

"Great game tonight," James smiled at his team as he led them back to the common room.

Halfway there, Kristen ran into Connor.

"Hey," she disconnected herself from the group, jerking her head to tell James to go ahead without her.

"Good job in the game tonight," Connor grinned at her as she hugged him.

"Mm, we're lucky that Slytherin isn't exactly playing well this season," she smiled back. "Thanks for the flowers, by the way," she reached up to kiss him lightly.

"I thought you'd like them," he murmured, returning the gesture.

"Were you behind 'Roses for the Cup' too?" they began walking, Merlin knows where to.

"Nah, that was my moron of a best friend." She laughed.

"I think Grant's kind of cute," she teased. "But not cute as in looks, cute as in acting cute," she added quickly.

"You had me worried there for a second," a smirk crossed his lips.

"Not to worry, I'm still completely crazy about you," Kristen laughed. "And I've got to go, they'll be wondering where I am."

"Alright, see you darling," he gave her a half-smile.

"See you," she echoed, turning and walking to the Gryffindor common room for the celebrations.

--

**This fic is fast becoming one of those that I write when I hit writers block on my other ones…sorry, but it's working out for me.**

**No reviews for the last chapter—was it really that bad?**


	27. Chapter 27

Kristen gasped when she tested the spell, and _it worked._ Revalio Relashio, the spell Sirius had given her, made the wall behind her night stand warp into a smooth opening of a tunnel. She stole a look at Lily and Riley, but found they were still asleep, and took her wand with her, and she climbed down the tunnel.

To her surprise, after walking through a passageway, she found the four guys there.

"Kristen! So you tried it," James grinned broadly.

"Okay, what's with this," she asked suspiciously

Sirius grinned, and with a flourish, pulled a large piece of parchment out of his robes.

"_I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good,"_ he tapped the parchment and to her incredulity, lines began appearing.

"This, Kristen, this tunnel network leads to _anywhere_ in Hogwarts. Seems that before house-elves were given magic by the Founders, they used this system to get anywhere.

And, we've studied it in two months last year, and created _this._ Behold, the Marauder's Map," James presented Sirius, who unfolded the whole thing.

"Holy shit," Kristen breathed, examining it.

"Shows the secret passageways, how to get there and even where everyone is at this exact point in time," James said proudly.

"How come you guys never told me?" Kristen asked, slightly hurt. "I mean…"

"We were going to, but decided to finish it before telling you," Remus said quickly. "And it's only in the testing stages. We still have to finish it."

"What the hell is up with the names on here?" Kristen asked, "Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs?"

James shifted uneasily. "Well…Sirius, you explain it."

The darker boy scowled. "What the wanker is trying to say, Kristen, is that…Moony is Remus. And he's…he's a werewolf."

Kristen absorbed that. "To tell you the truth, I'd already guessed that. It was always on the full moon that he was gone, and those screams would happen. Moony is because of the full moon, I guess?"

Sirius nodded. "And the rest of us, Prongs, that's James, Padfoot, me, and Wormtail, Peter."

"Why are those your names?" Kristen asked.

"Because…we're Animagi," James said nervously. "Just watch."

Kristen's eyes were huge, and when each of them transformed, James into a stately stag, Sirius into a bear-like dog and Peter into a rat.

"Wormtail because his rat tail looks like a worm," Remus said quietly, "Prongs because he's got them, as antlers, and Padfoot, the dog's pads on his feet."

They transformed back. "Neat, eh?" James asked.

"Why didn't you _tell _me," Kristen whispered. "Merlin. All this time, this can't have happened in a few months—you didn't _tell me._ This is fucking illegal, and you didn't—all of you! What—I thought we were supposed to be best friends, the Marauders! How the hell are we supposed to be that when you've kept these huge secrets from me, all of you? You know what—I'm leaving," Kristen turned and bolted back the way she came.

"Kristen, wait," Sirius yelled, dashing after her. "It's not like that—!"

But she was absolutely devastated by their deception, and hit him with a Leg Locker Curse as she climbed back up to her room.

"Revalio Relashio," she whispered, tears streaming down her face, and the portal closed and she shoved her nightstand back in front of it.

She didn't sleep for a long time, but when she did, it was because she had cried herself to sleep.

Back below in the main tunnel, Remus sighed, half furious. "I told you she would take it badly! We should've told her when everyone found out. I can't imagine…"

James scowled, having rescued Sirius. "Dammit, we didn't even get to the part of the fact that we run 'round with you every damn month."

"How d'you think she'd take _that?_" Remus shot back. "We should apologize. And you've still got that Animagus potion, we can ask what she wants to be able to turn into and she can be an Animagus too."

"Hell to the mother-fucking no," Sirius growled. "I'm not going to let her run with us. I'm sorry, Moony, it's too dangerous for her."

"You are so overprotective," Peter scoffed, speaking for the first time. "You know how she'd react to that! We have to apologize, make her listen to our reasons, ask if she wants to become an Animagus. She won't have to run with us, we've got enough people anyways."

"Wormtail's making sense," James decided. "We'll have to make her see it our way."

"Only, I really fucking doubt she wants to talk to either of us right now," Sirius pointed out. "How are we going to do that?"

"She'll calm down sometime," James said.

"Will she? She's like us man, stubborn as hell. That's how she's able to go out with Johnson without any of us being able to stop her," Sirius muttered.

Remus sighed. "I still don't remember why we didn't tell her back in third year! I mean, honestly…"

"Same thing," Peter said. "Sirius didn't want us to."

"Sirius acts more overprotective of Kristen than Connor does," James scoffed.

"Yeah, probably care more about her than he does too," Sirius shot back.

"Okay, come off it," Remus snapped. "Talk to her tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah, swear."

--

Kristen woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and puffy eyes. Swearing softly, she pulled on her robes and looked herself in the mirror.

She looked terrible.

Fucking puffy eyes.

She pulled out her want and reduced them, and instantly looked much better. But then she remembered why she looked terrible in the first place—those damn blokes.

Honestly, she wasn't going to talk to them until they did something that would be worthwhile talking to them for.

Kristen was considering this revelation as a major breach of trust, and wondered why they hadn't told her earlier…blinking as fresh tears rose to her eyes.

Swearing again, she headed down to breakfast, spotting her boyfriend and sliding into the seat next to him.

"Hey," he pulled her close against him.

"Hey," she answered, wincing as her voice rasped slightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"The rest of the Marauders," she muttered. "Are fucking douchebags."

"What'd they do?"

"I'll explain later," she whispered as more people began to arrive, glad for his support.

This was why she was in love with him, because he was always there, always.

Connor answered, "If you're sure," and then Grant drew the both of them into conversation.

Meanwhile, James poked his head around the doors of the Great Hall, frowning when he saw Kristen with Connor.

"C'mon mates, even though it's a no go," James muttered, leading them into the Hall.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table at their usual spots, Sirius scowling when he realized that Kristen was sitting behind him, next to Connor. Damn.

"Right mate, you were right. She doesn't want to talk," James muttered to him.

"Obviously. But she can't run forever. We've got more than half our classes together," Remus said.

"Okay. We'll see."

--

The whole day, no one had been able to talk to her.

She had walked into every class seconds before the bell rang, and as far away from the rest of the Marauders as possible. Somehow, every lesson had gone against their efforts, all being lectures. They hadn't wanted to attract unwanted attention, so had sat there frustrated. Then, when the bell rang, she would bolt and disappear!

It was extremely frustrating.

James growled. "Catch her in the common room then," and then stopped. "Oh bloody hell, use the Map!" he pulled it out of his pocket and tapped it, muttering, "_I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."_

Ink spread from where he had tapped it, and the boys searched for her.

"Damn, she's with her boyfriend again!" Sirius threw himself into an armchair.

"Maybe it's time we broke up the lovefest," James said grimly.

"No, check where it's at, she's in the Ravenclaw common room. Dude, we're not going to be able to get to her."

"Man, what the hell.'

"You know, she has to come back some time. We'll just wait."

Hours passed. Kristen still didn't come back.

The common room emptied out, and Sirius checked the time. Both Remus and Peter had fallen asleep; it was only two in the morning. How was she not back?

James' eyes were drooping now, and soon he too succumbed to sleep. Sirius cursed softly, deciding to wait another hour and then consider the cause lost.

Ten minutes later, the portrait door opened and his eyes snapped to it.

No one was there.

"Come off it Kristen," he strode to the staircase, blocking it. "Get rid of the Charm. I know it's you."

It was his Quidditch reflexes that felt the faint ghost of a breath, and he lunged forward, grabbing a warm body.

Kristen appeared from under him, scowling darkly. How hadn't she thought of this? Of course they'd do something like this.

"Come on, Kristen, let me explain for us," he pleaded as she attempted to push him off.

She refused to reply.

He heaved a sigh, and, taking out his wand, put a Full Body-Bind on her. She'd give him hell when he took it off, but it was the only way.

Sirius picked her up and made his way to their dormitory, shutting the door behind them and dropping her on his bed, taking the curse off of her.

Kristen leaped off it and _punched him__ in the face._

"Fuck!" Sirius swore, but pushed her backwards again. "Dammit Kristen, I just want to explain alright? Do I fucking have to tie you up for that?"

Her eyes slanted in fury, and she made a break for the door. He caught her though, and muttered, _Incarcerous_, effectively tying her hands and legs together.

"Sorry. Okay, honestly hear me out okay? You're probably going to want to absolutely murder me, but here goes." He picked her up and dropped her gently onto his bed and sat down next to her. Kristen's eyes were glaring daggers, and he tried to avoid eye contact.

"We became large animals, because we researched that animals aren't susceptible to werewolf bites. We could keep him in line that way, because we didn't want him to be cooped up in the Shrieking Shack. That's behind the Whomping Willow, it's where he goes every month to transform. We run round with him every month, on the grounds. Peter's a rat, yeah, because in order to get close to the Willow, there's this root that you have to touch. He's small enough to go touch it without getting squashed…"

"They wanted to tell you everything, back in third year, when we were studying how to become Animagi. Merlin, it was so hard…but I didn't want them too. And this is probably where you'll want to beat the shit out of me, but I didn't think it was right for you to run with a werewolf every month…I didn't want you to do that. Peter says I'm overprotective; yeah I reckon that's it."

"We finally became Animagi when we made the potion successfully, and took it at James' place. It was a right bitch to take…but we've still got some left over, put a Charm on it so it's still okay to take. Kristen, we're so damn sorry that we didn't tell you before, and we want to have you know it's not because we didn't think you were a friend." Sirius dropped his head slightly.

He looked her in the eye again, surprised to see tears, and Vanished the ropes.

"I know you like animals," he whispered, and transformed.

She laughed quietly, and he pressed forward lay next to her.

Kristen put out a hand and rubbed him behind his ears, and Sirius woofed softly.

"I thought you all didn't trust me," she murmured. "That hurt."

He shook his head and wagged his tail.

"Don't do that again," she tried for stern, but failed, and laughed again when he nudged her hand and slid his head under it, wanting another free rubbing.

She scratched his ears lightly, unable to contain a smile at his playfulness when he rolled over.

Kristen fell asleep there, with one of her best friends, and feeling a whole lot better about the previous night.

--

Kristen woke up with Sirius, in human form next to her at six in the morning.

"Damn," she muttered. "Forgot to practice Charms."

He stirred. "What the hell ha—oh yeah. Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Stealing your bathroom though," she darted off the bed and into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Sirius let her go and looked around again before remembering that James and the others had fallen asleep in the common room.

Kristen reappeared, and they hit the common room, and attacked, tickling James and Remus respectively.

James woke up immediately and flipped Kristen off the chair and ran behind a table as he peered out.

"Ugh, damn James, seriously?" Kristen muttered as Remus squealed and punched Sirius.

Sirius rolled his eyes, pushing Remus off the couch and threw a pillow at Peter.

James reappeared from behind the table and grinned crookedly at her. "Sorry darling," he muttered, pronouncing it 'dahh-ling' and pulling her up.

"Prat," she muttered, smacking his shoulder lightly.

"Love you too," he answered sagely. "We're cool then?"

"Yeah. We're cool."

**--**

**dum dum de dum. Bored, so updated. :P **

**review replies:**

**Hurricane Rachel: Thanks : )**

**Awesomea786: Sirius and Kristen are going to end up together but it's going to take some time and they will go through a load of drama before that happens! I hope this chapter answers some of your questions : )**


	28. Chapter 28

It was that day that Sirius realized that he had feelings for Kristen. Feelings beyond their Marauder bond.

Understandably, he flipped out. Sirius kept glancing at her, asking himself if it was more than just wondering what it would be like with her—hoping madly for it to be just that.

No such luck. Every time she smiled at him, his heart seemed to skip a beat. This was ridiculous! He was Sirius Black, the one whom everyone wanted or wanted to be. How could he be in love with one of his oldest friends—who was infatuated with a different bloke?

Damn! This was stupid, this was rubbish, this was _so right._ At the moment, her head was propped against his shoulder as she re-read the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, legs taking up the rest of the common room couch. James was seated on her knees, attempting to rest his eyes. And Sirius liked the contact.

It was after dinner and they were, for once, exhausted from doing _homework_ of all things.

Kristen sighed, putting down her book and her head slid down to rest on his thigh. Sirius almost jerked upright—that was so close to his tender regions that he wondered if she was feeling alright. And he told himself that even if he might have some feelings for her, he'd continue to treat her the same way, because she was so damn happy with Connor. The thought made him frown, but he told himself that she deserved a normal life with friends outside the Marauders. But Sirius was still so tempted to bring her onto his lap and snog her senseless.

Ruefully, he acknowledged that thinking about her was making him extremely sexually frustrated, and he probably would have to chat up some girl in the next few days or be subject to the humiliation of a solo-wank. That would not do for Sirius Black at all. He might care about Kristen, but a bloke still had his needs.

She suddenly sat up, murmuring something to James, who nodded and left. Sirius cocked his head at her, and she said, "Let's go up to your room. I want to tell you something." Kristen got up, and Sirius immediately followed.

They had been in the Marauder dormitory for only a few seconds when the door was flung open, and a gang of screaming girls flooded in.

"Sirius!!!!!!!! SQUEE!!!!!! Oh _look_ at that sexy—"

Kristen sat up so fast she was a blur and hit the flood with _Impedimenta_ and shoved them out the door, pulling James and Remus in and slamming the door shut.

"Where's Peter?" Sirius asked.

"Dunno," James shrugged. "Probably out with that girl Tamera."

Kristen took a seat on the floor, watching as they followed.

"James told me you both might not like to hear this, but I feel like I have to tell you. Anyways, it could be called returning the favor, since you all told me when you'd done it." She blinked. "Yeah, I put out for Connor. We're shagging."

The news left the two boys in two very different states of emotions, and James was glad that she had told him first, alone. Remus squirmed, kind of sheepish, and a little sick at the thought of the girl he considered his sister sexing someone, but got over it quickly. Sirius, on the other hand…

"WHAT? What the _hell_ Kristen? When was this?" he yelled.

"Sirius, honestly, I might be your friend but I'm also a fifteen year old girl who was sexually frustrated before, alright? So don't go and try to murder him because I think I wanted it more than he did."

That hurt. She _wanted_ Connor to be her first time? Sirius could barely stomach the thought.

Kristen sighed, and said, "I want to talk to you," casting a pointed look at James and Remus as she did so. Remus nodded, dragging James down to the elf tunnels, leaving them alone.

"I love him, so that's why I wanted it," she murmured. "Honestly, you have no idea how relieved I am that you're taking it this well," she went on, pulling him into a hug. "It means a lot."

He wanted to say, _do you have any idea how __**I**__ feel? 'Course you don't. You couldn't understand._ Sirius refrained, just barely, and let himself enjoy their bittersweet embrace.

--

There was a craze of drama that followed. Sirius was shagging girls left and right, and they would inevitably find out about another of his one night stands, and start screaming. But he told Kristen that he wasn't responsible for any of it, because he had told all of them he was only in it for sex and they had still agreed.

She didn't approve, but kept out of it—she wasn't his mother. And she Kristen didn't want to pick a fight with him when he'd accepted that she and Connor were doing a hell lot more than kissing.

She had no idea that Sirius had gotten drunk that Friday and confessed to James that he was in love with her.

James almost laughed, because he and Remus had already figured that Sirius had had a, well, serious case of denial about Kristen. Why else was he so fiercely overprotective of her, and hated Connor's guts?

Remus owed him ten Galleons. James had been right—Sirius came to his senses before O.W.L.s. _Never mess with the master,_ he smirked and went off to collect his money.

--

Kristen yawned. She was currently with the rest of the Marauders in their room, Remus scowling at James for god knows why. James had a permanent smirk on his face and was playing chess with Peter, who kept delaying the game because he'd fall asleep. Sleepily, she lay her head down on top of the pillow she'd stolen from Remus, and watched them, knowing that she'd probably fall asleep there on the floor, and not caring.

It was already twenty minutes to three in the morning, but they were still up, waiting for Sirius to get back from one of his latest conquests to discuss the pranks James desperately wanted to pull.

But it was _so_ late…she was so tired…

Kristen fell asleep.

Twenty minutes later, Sirius walked through the door.

"Where the hell have you been?" James growled.

"Shut up," Remus hissed, annoyed. "Kristen's sleeping."

Sirius shrugged off both of their irritation to drop onto his bed. "What?"

"Remember what we wanted to do? Talk about pranks?" James went on, voice lowered.

"Oh yeah…" the black haired boy remembered. "What d'you want to talk about?"

"Weren't we going to set something up that changed the ceiling of the Great Hall to bright purple and write happy birthday to Snape on it?" Remus asked.

"Yeah," James glared. "But I want to have other ideas."

Sirius shrugged. "Can we pull something on my brother?"

"What d'you want to do?" James asked.

"Ideally, put him in lingerie. But your call," Sirius smirked.

"What, like he'd be thick enough to put that on," James scoffed.

Sirius didn't respond, raising his head to peer over the mattress, and his eyes landed on Kristen. He blew out a breath.

"Are you sure she's asleep?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, why?" Remus asked. "I threw a pillow next to her and she didn't do anything."

"Isn't she gorgeous?" Sirius said softly, eyes trained on her sleeping form.

James glanced at Remus, mouthing, '_he's whipped'._ "Er…I guess she's pretty."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say. Everyone knows you think Lily is all that and a bag of chips. What d'you think Moony?"

"I don't see her the way you do, but I suppose she's quite attractive," Remus said awkwardly.

Sirius nodded at this, and sat up, shaking his head and causing his shaggy hair to tousle.

James grimaced, and suddenly chucked a pillow at Sirius as hard as he could. "Damn, man, we're trying to think of pranks remember?" he said as loudly as he dared go for fear of waking Kristen up.

"Merlin's balls, _okay_! Just slip that potion into breakfast food—_don't look at me like that_ for god's sake James! You know the one I'm talking about. The _Erotique_ one."

"You mean the one that makes the drinker walk around with an uncontrollable boner for three days?"

"Yeah."

"Padfoot, you don't need that," Remus scoffed, "You seem to be able to run round like that without the potion."

"I know I don't need it, so I won't eat anything whenever we do it."

"Do you remember the effect on girls?" James asked, thinking.

Sirius gave him a look. "Lily's not going to jump you, even with that shit in her system Prongs."

"I think Kristen would drag Connor into a broom closet and wouldn't come out for a week," James shot back at him.

Sirius scowled and glanced at said girl to make sure she was still asleep. "Shut up."

"Okay fine we'll give that a go. Moony, you'll be in charge of getting the formula. Sirius and I will get the ingredients. And we can all take turns over making it."

"Are we going to tell Kristen about the prank?" Sirius asked.

James grinned wickedly. "Should we? I'd love to see what happens with her and her boyfriend."

"She'd slaughter you Prongs," Remus rolled his eyes. "And even if you don't want to tell her I would."

"Good man Moony," Sirius let out a chuckle and rolled over. James made a face.

"Padfoot, you know we had a bet on when you'd admit that you liked Kristen?" James said conversationally.

"Yeah? Who won?"

Remus scowled.

"I did," James smirked triumphantly.

Sirius rolled his eyes and got off of his bed, flicking his wand in Kristen's direction and levitating her lightly to set her down on his bed, and gently tugged the covers over her.

"Oh Merlin's pants you are _so_ whipped," James grimaced as the darker haired boy transfigured a piece of half finished homework into a large pillow.

"I'm nowhere near how you act for Lily," Sirius mumbled back. "And I don't care. Night."

With that, he transformed into the large, bear-like dog and curled onto the pillow.

--

Kristen woke up the next morning and swore when she checked the time. Ten o'clock. "_Fuck_," her eyes widened. How'd she sleep for this long and why hadn't they woken her up? And how did she wake up in Sirius' bed when she had fallen asleep on the floor last night? Oh McGonagall was going to absolutely _kill_ her.

"Awake?" a familiar voice asked.

She looked up. "Hell yeah I am. Sirius, why aren't we in class?"

His head, from James' bed, turned to give her an odd look. "Today's Saturday, sweetheart. Did you have a bit of alcohol yesterday or something?" his tone was slightly patronizing.

"Oh."

"Yeah. We reckoned we'd let you sleep in, so the rest of them are outside."

"And you volunteered to stay in with a sleeping girl?"

"Yeah," Sirius muttered. "I fell asleep too."

Kristen stretched and asked, "How'd I get onto your bed?"

Sirius shrugged, not meeting her eyes, saying, "Dunno."

She didn't press him for anymore details. "I'm hungry. What about you?"

He shrugged again. "I had breakfast, but I'll always be up for food."

She laughed her voice husky from sleep. "Yeah, I know that. Let's go."

Ten minutes later saw them in the kitchens, each finishing off a plate of food. After that, they walked out to head to the grounds—but the two of them bumped into someone very familiar first.

"Oh hey Lily, Riley," Kristen said lightly, but groaned mentally. Aly was with them, and judging by the look on both Riley and Lily's face, had already been pissing the two of them off. Gilmore seeing Kristen and Sirius together would spawn another round of those ridiculous rumors about her cheating on Connor.

Sure enough, Aly's eyes slanted maliciously.

"'Afternoon, ladies," Sirius shot a winning grin at the other three Gryffindors, feeling Kristen stiffen next to him.

"See you around," the dark haired girl said through gritted teeth and strode off.

Sirius cocked his head at the girls and went after Kristen. He caught up to her a few moments later and didn't say anything as they made their way outside.

He knew how much Kristen hated Aly, and regretted that his many hook-ups with the girl caused her to try to hang around the Marauders more often. The same went for Aly's best friends; Sirius had gotten them all to put out for him.

And he hated that he did now, because it obviously annoyed Kristen to no end.

"So, about those pranks," Sirius tried to start a conversation.

"Yeah?" she asked, slipping through the doors and out onto the lawn. Sirius winced at her tone that said she was in no mood for talking.

"Got any ideas?"

"Nope," she said, trudging across the crisp ground and coming to a stop underneath the 'Marauder tree', where James sat playing with the Snitch,

"So what're we doing?" she asked.

James shot a look at Remus. "Dunno, we need a test subject for a new potion we're thinking of doing. You want to try it?"

"What is it?" Kristen asked, reading the ingredients list from behind Remus' shoulder. "What—hey isn't that potion the French one for guys?"

James scowled. "Well—do you want to try it?"

"No thanks," Kristen rolled her eyes. "What're you doing with that anyways?"

Sirius spoke up. "Putting it in the food. Duh. How else are we going to get everyone to eat it?"

"That's all?" Kristen raised her eyebrows. "I thought we'd done the food variation thing a couple times already. Weren't we going to do something with fireworks and mucking up the ceiling in the Great Hall?"

"Yeah, we'll do that too. It's a simple spell; we don't have to actually _change_ it, we can just put the illusion that it's been changed."

"Whatever, I call setting up the fireworks."

"Me too," Sirius added hastily.

James shot him a glare, and asked sweetly, "So Kristen, do you think you would mind if Connor test drove the potion for us?"

Sirius shot him the dirtiest look he could muster, and Kristen rolled her eyes. "Save it for yourself Jamesy, Connor doesn't need it."

"How do you know?" he shot back before he registered what he had said.

Kristen smirked. "Wouldn't you like to find out."

--


	29. I'm Over This

Giving up now.

Permanently.

See previous reasons posted.

Thanks for following, but no more updates.


End file.
